scorecardHere are 19 of the best basketball players on Wall Street
  1. Home
  2. stock market
  3. Markets
  4. Here are 19 of the best basketball players on Wall Street

Here are 19 of the best basketball players on Wall Street

Travis Hansen moved in to private equity after playing for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks

Here are 19 of the best basketball players on Wall Street

Jonathan Berger took his talents to the Windy City after Princeton

Jonathan Berger took his talents to the Windy City after Princeton

Jonathan Berger spent his college years until 2005 on the Princeton Tigers' basketball team. After school, he decamped to Chicago, where he became portfolio manager at Alyeska Investment Group, a $4 billion hedge fund.

Melvis Langyintuo joined Goldman Sachs after graduating Skidmore College

Melvis Langyintuo joined Goldman Sachs after graduating Skidmore College

Melvis Langyintuo was class president at Skidmore College in New York, and in his senior year he also factored in the Thoroughbreds' hoops lineup. Today, he's a global macro trader at Goldman Sachs, after stints at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.

Speaking at Skidmore's commencement in 2012, Langyintuo said "I feel that a statement by my college basketball coach Joe Burke, at the conclusion of my Skidmore athletic career, captures some important aspects of life’s experiences--especially the past four years at Skidmore College….He said, 'All things inevitably come to an end…...the hardest thing in life is when great things come to an end.’"

Bill Bradley went from a long career on the hardwood and in DC to private equity

Bill Bradley went from a long career on the hardwood and in DC to private equity

Sen. Bill Bradley has had a storied career, on and off the hardwood. To New Yorkers, he's remembered fondly for his role in the New York Knicks' championship seasons in the 1970s. He also served the state of New Jersey for nearly two decades as US Senator. Today, he's a senior adviser with private equity firm Catterton Partners. Bradley is also managing director with Allen & Co. as well.

Pat Lawrence went from the Florida Gators to Morgan Stanley

Pat Lawrence went from the Florida Gators to Morgan Stanley

Pat Lawrence has spent the last 25 years working with Morgan Stanley's Capstone Group in Florida, most recently as co-portfolio manager. But, before he joined the bank in 1990, he was a Florida Gator — and, a legit baller. He earned the Iron Gator Award while there for never missing a game or a practice in four years.

Meghan Herrick joined JPMorgan after her collegiate career

Meghan Herrick joined JPMorgan after her collegiate career

JPMorgan's Meghan Herrick graduated from the University of Chicago in 2012, after a standout collegiate career in which she set the Maroons' all-time mark for most free-throws buried. Now, according to her LinkedIn profile, Herrick is a bank high-net-worth analyst for JPMorgan's private bank.

After a celebrated NBA career, the San Antonio Spurs' David Robinson turned to private equity

After a celebrated NBA career, the San Antonio Spurs

David Robinson graduated the US Naval Academy with a degree in mathematics before joining the NBA's San Antonio Spurs for a 14-year career that would lead to his being inducted into the league's Hall of Fame in 2009. Accolades from his career include a league Most Valuable Player award, two league championships, two Olympic Gold Medals and an award given out annually by the league named in his honor. After retiring, he launched Admiral Capital, a private-equity firm.

Corey Crowder spent four years playing in the NBA

Corey Crowder spent four years playing in the NBA

Corey Crowder got his start at Kentucky Weslyan College, which won the 1990 Division II National Championship. After that, Crowder spent four years in the NBA, playing for the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs. He also spent a short stint playing on the Saint Quentin basketball team in France before he found his way into finance. In 2012, he joined METRIX Capital, a private equity firm, and in September 2015, he joined Solve Capital in California. Today, Crowder's son Jae plays pro ball for the Boston Celtics.

Citi's Stephen Trauber played for Rice University in the 1980s

Citi

In the 1980s, Stephen Trauber played college hoops for Rice University in Texas. But once he got his degree in managerial studies and economics, he decamped for an MBA, and eventually, a gig at Credit Suisse First Boston. Today, Trauber is vice chairman and global head of energy in Citigroup's corporate & investment banking group.

Bobby Tudor III went from Rice's hardwood to running a top energy boutique bank

Bobby Tudor III went from Rice

Bobby Tudor III was one of Trauber's predecessors at Rice University. A two-time captain of the men's basketball team and four-year letterman, Tudor would go on to a brief international professional career in Innsbruck, Austria and would later get his law degree from Tulane. After that, it was a long stint at Goldman Sachs — before he launched investment bank Tudor, Pickering & Holt in Houston.

Dallas Ouano is now with SumRidge Partners in New Jersey

Dallas Ouano is now with SumRidge Partners in New Jersey

During his college days, Ouano ran the point for Villanova's men's basketball team — a squad that, at one point, was ranked among the top 10 hoops teams in the nation. He graduated with a finance degree in 2012. These days, according to his profile with SumRidge Partners in New Jersey, he's busy as a high yield trader/associate.

Magic Johnson's post-career ventures include his work with a real estate firm

Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson's collegiate and professional career is cluttered with accomplishments and championships, but it's his work off the court that would make many Wall Street investors green with envy. He's backed more than 100 Starbucks stores, a movie theater chain, a movie studio and invested in pro sports franchises including the Los Angeles Dodgers (in 2012, alongside Guggenheim Partners) as well as women's pro team the Los Angeles Sparks. He also has a seat on the board of Square. He also partnered with Canyon Partners LLC, a real estate investor, to develop Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds, which invests in diverse communities.

Yale grad Paul Vitelli played pro ball in Italy before heading to Wall Street

Yale grad Paul Vitelli played pro ball in Italy before heading to Wall Street

Paul Vitelli worked his way up the ranks of the Yale Bulldogs' basketball program for three seasons before graduating. After that, he decamped for Milan, where he played professionally until 2007. He spent a few years on Wall Street as a private banking analyst at JPMorgan before returning to school, earning his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in 2013, and since then has worked as a consultant with AT Kearney.

Andrew Bloom played D-1 hoops before moving into PE

Andrew Bloom played D-1 hoops before moving into PE

Andrew Bloom played Division I college hoops in the Western Athletic Conference for the Seattle University Redhawks, where he played until 2005. Now, he's investment strategy director with middle market private equity firm Summit Capital Group in Seattle, which he joined in 2008.

Alex Nesbitt joined Goldman Sachs after playing for Harvard Basketball

Alex Nesbitt joined Goldman Sachs after playing for Harvard Basketball

Alex Nesbitt was prominently featured in a recent Harvard Crimson piece about its athletes making the transition to the professional realm. No wonder: according to the piece, he's now employed at Goldman Sachs as an analyst. In Nesbitt's final year with the program, the Crimson made a trip to the NCAA tournament.

William Jackman did the unthinkable — he quit Coach K's Duke program

William Jackman did the unthinkable — he quit Coach K

William Jackman today is a senior vice president of investments at UBS. But, in the mid 1980s, he had some serious game. Jackman played at Duke University, rooming with current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas his freshman year, before heading to Nebraska University.

In a 2011 interview, he explained his mindset leaving Duke right before its basketball program became a household name: "

"I just wanted to go back closer to the family and brothers… Duke was having a tough year. We had the #1 recruiting class in the nation, but the student newspaper at Duke said, 'Coach K has had his time, that he was a great recruiter but he couldn’t coach.' So, there was a lot of instability at Duke."

Brady Lipp ran wild as a North Dakota State Bison

Brady Lipp ran wild as a North Dakota State Bison

Before his Wall Street career, Brady Lipp enjoyed a lengthy stint in college hoops. He was team captain of the North Dakota State Bison, where he played more than 100 games. Lipp founded Akros Capital in 2003 after working at Credit Suisse, Warburg Pincus and in other Wall Street gigs.

Jesse Wood was an Ivy League standout

Jesse Wood was an Ivy League standout

Jesse Wood spent years working at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan before joining T3 Advisors as a senior vice president. But before that he had some serious game in the late 90s and early noughties. At Brown University, he earned the Woody Grimshaw Memorial Award for his defense on the court in 2000 and was named twice to the Academic All-Ivy League.

Mario Mendoza became a financial advisor after leaving the hardwood

Mario Mendoza became a financial advisor after leaving the hardwood

Mario Mendoza racked up accolades in his days playing with the University of Puget Sound RedHawks in Tacoma, Washington. After graduating, he worked for Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Bancwest/Chase Investments. Today, Mendoza is an assistant vice president with Wells Fargo in Sacramento.

But that's not all ...

But that

The list of Wall Street ballers doesn't end here. Check out Business Insider's post on all the football veterans who moved onto big careers in finance!

Advertisement