As he tries to make the transition from Olympic swimming star and product pitchman to entrepreneur, Michael Phelps wants to dive into Silicon Valley's investment opportunities.
USA TODAY

The most decorated Olympian is trying his hands at a new venture: tech investing.

Michael Phelps, winner of 28 Olympic medals, is looking to join the long list of successful athletes turned investors. At the Intuit software conference in San Jose, Phelps expressed his interest to the Associated Press.

"I would love to get involved," Phelps told the news outlet. "Whether it's in a couple little startups here and there, take a little risk, have some fun and see where it goes."

Like other popular and successful athletes, Phelps has created quite a brand from himself, having struck sponsorship deals with AT&T, Visa, Under Armour, Subway and Wheaties, among others.

He most recently has been featured in ads from computer chip giant Intel, alongside Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons as well as promotions for the latest Call of Duty video game from Activision.

For Phelps, investing in tech opens up a potential new source of revenue beyond endorsements  following his retirement from competitive swimming after the Rio games this summer.

Tech has become one of the new avenues for sports figures to invest their money. Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, also recently retired, announced in August that he was creating an $100 million venture capital fund looking to invest in technology, media and data-focused companies. Fellow NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have also have made investments, with Anthony creating his own tech fund in April called Melo 7 Tech Partners and James a notable investor in Beats by Dre headphones.

An early investor in Beats, James reportedly pocketed $30 million following the headphone maker's $3 billion sale to Apple in 2014.

Not every startup has been a success story, however. Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said in 2012 that he lost $50 million in his failed video game venture called 38 Studios.

But for a seemingly increasing number of athletes tech has greater appeal than investing their riches in cars, houses, clothes or friends. With hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars coming to athletes at young ages, that money has to go somewhere. For Phelps and others, it now appears that place is in tech.

"I am getting my feet wet," Phelps told the AP. "2017 will be a big year."

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal

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