{"id":222105,"date":"2023-09-08T13:27:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allworldreport.com\/?p=222105"},"modified":"2023-09-08T13:27:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:27:41","slug":"how-shamed-cyclist-lance-armstrong-made-16million-from-uber-after-losing-his-fortune-in-tour-de-france-doping-scandal-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allworldreport.com\/sport\/how-shamed-cyclist-lance-armstrong-made-16million-from-uber-after-losing-his-fortune-in-tour-de-france-doping-scandal-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"How shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong made \u00a316million from Uber after losing his fortune in Tour de France doping scandal | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
LANCE ARMSTRONG'S "magic" meeting with a man in a bar led to him raking in \u00a316MILLION from Uber.<\/strong><\/p>\n The shamed cyclist, 51, was known for one of sport's most inspirational stories when he battled back from testicular cancer to win a record seven Tour de France titles in a row between 1999 and 2005.<\/p>\n Recalling the American's diagnosis in 1996, his doctors admitted the chances of him surviving the disease were "almost none".<\/p>\n Yet he defied those odds and returned to racing to become regarded as one of the best cyclists of all time.<\/p>\n That was until 2012 when the United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded he was the ringleader in "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen".<\/p>\n Armstrong was stripped of all seven of his Tour titles, told by the sport's governing body, the UCI, that he had "no place in cycling", and received a lifetime ban from sport.<\/p>\n He went on to confess to the systematic doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013.<\/p>\n But in addition to the professional shame brought upon him, the Texas-born rider was also sued from pillar to post.<\/p>\n Sponsors, promotional companies and the federal government all sought damages from Armstrong as they deemed he had defrauded them as a result of the cheating.<\/p>\n All told, the 1993 world road race champion claims he was forced to pay around \u00a380m to settle the various lawsuits.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n It could have been worse if the US government had acquired the \u00a378m they were asking for during a long-running legal battle.<\/p>\n In the end, Armstrong settled in 2018 and only had to pay them \u00a33.9m.<\/p>\n But, unbeknown to him, his real saving grace had come more than a decade earlier in a bar in Aspen, Colorado when he met an investor named Chris Sacca.<\/p>\n The pair chatted over a beer and at the end of the conversation Sacca insisted they stay in contact.<\/p>\n "In that period of my life I didn't keep in touch with a lot of people," Armstrong told Joe Pompliano last year. "But something said 'I'm going to keep in touch with this guy'."<\/p>\n It was perhaps the best decision Armstrong ever made.<\/p>\n The two exchanged numbers and, a few years later, Sacca offered the American the chance to invest in his venture capital firm, Lowercase Capital.<\/p>\n Armstrong obliged, albeit without much knowledge of what he was contributing to.<\/p>\n Then, in 2010, Lowercase Capital invested in a little-known transportation conglomerate named Uber.<\/p>\n Today, that company is valued at \u00a375billion.<\/p>\n Remarkably, Armstrong did not know of the success of his investment until six or seven years later.<\/p>\n "I didn't know he [Sacca] had such a huge stake in Uber," Armstrong admitted.<\/p>\n "At that point in my life I had a full-time team on my side – business manager, agent, manager – so any quarterly updates, they were reading through all that. I was just out being me."<\/p>\n It wasn't until around "2016 or 17" when Armstrong learned of the life-changing sum he had earned as a result of that unexpected barroom conversation years earlier – estimated at around \u00a316m.<\/p>\n "I was like 'Wait, what?'," Armstrong says as he recalls his reaction to being told about the astonishing success of the Uber investment.<\/p>\n Explaining the impact that had on his life, he told the BBC it "saved" his family.<\/p>\n He went on to add: "We can reminisce about Chris and I meeting and me putting money into his fund.<\/p>\n "But the reality is, if not for that, I don't know how I would have fed my family.<\/p>\n "So when you think about it like that it's not funny anymore, it's f***ing magic."<\/p>\n Shortly after the Uber revelation, Armstrong received similar news from another investment fund, Ignition Partners, who had secured distribution for eSignature company DocuSign – now valued at more than \u00a38bn.<\/p>\n "That put some more meals on the table," Armstrong nonchalantly recalls.<\/p>\n Nowadays, the former rider, who as of 2020 lived in a \u00a312m mansion in Colorado, runs his own podcast and owns a coffee shop in Texas.<\/p>\n He named the establishment Juan Pelota Cafe – with many believing this to be a reference to his testicular cancer, with "pelota" translating to "ball" in Spanish.<\/p>\n A bike shop named "Mellow Jonny's" is also attached to the cafe.<\/p>\n But Armstrong's successful business ventures will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of many cycling fans who have not forgiven him for the negative impact his doping offences have had on the sport.<\/p>\n Many of the American's Tour de France rivals also doped during his time at the top.<\/p>\n And that is how he justifies the decision to himself.<\/p>\n Eight years ago, he told BBC Sport: "My answer is not a popular answer. If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn\u2019t do it again, because I don\u2019t think you have to.<\/p>\n "If you take me back to 1995, when it was completely and totally pervasive, I\u2019d probably do it again. People don\u2019t like to hear that.<\/p>\n "When I made the decision \u2013 when my team-mates made that decision, when the whole peloton made that decision \u2013 it was a bad decision and an imperfect time. But it happened."<\/p>\n
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