$220 Million Man Derek Jeter Recalls a Painful Childhood Loss While Diving Into a Lucrative Industry

Before becoming an MLB icon, Captain Clutch, AKA Derek Jeter, was a novice card collector like many young baseball fans. From collecting baseball cards to being on the cards, Jeter has come a long way. After giving a Hall of Fame-worthy career of two decades wearing the pinstripes, the captain decided to hang up his cleats in 2014. Since then, he couldn’t bring himself to pick up a baseball bat. But even that did not stop him from staying connected to the game. 

The former athlete’s latest venture, Arena Club, came into existence in September 2022. Intending to provide a bridge between the physical and digital worlds of sports collecting, a new card trading platform emanated. Little did people know, this idea came to the co-founder Derek Jeter from a minor tragedy that took place in his childhood. 

What inspired Derek Jeter to form Arena Club?

Like many other kids, a young Derek Jeter used to collect as many baseball cards as possible. He used to store them in a shoebox. At first, his only aim in collecting the cards was to get the gum inside. But that changed as he grew up. 

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While living in Michigan, Jeter’s parent’s house became a victim of a flood. It took his possession of many cards away. Therefore, when the idea of creating a card-collecting digital platform came to the former baseball player, it came from the want to help a kid whose cards got washed away in the flood. In a recent interview with Fast Company, the five-time World Series champ said, “I wish it(digital card collecting platform) had existed about 20 or 30 years ago. There was a flood at my parent’s house in Michigan, and I had many of these valuable cards in large doses that were ruined.”

Even though Jeter can’t bring back the cards that got washed away, he’s now going to help every avid baseball fan collect the digital versions of those invaluable cards. 

What other ventures is Jeter a part of?

Aside from being co-founder of the media platform, The Player’s Tribune, the Hall of Famer also owns a publishing house. Jeter publishing that focuses primarily on kids’ learning. In addition to this, Jeter launched athleisure ‘Greatness Wins’ in association with other partners last year. 

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He has also invested in a couple of beverages, restaurants, food products, social content, communication software, and many more. All this has helped the MLB great to push his net worth to a massive value of $220 million. 

Which venture of baseball legend Derek Jeter do you like the most? Let us know in the comments below!