Rob Gronkowski forgot he invested $69,000 in Apple and ten years later the value has completely changed his net-worth

A former NFL star has won the financial lottery by simply forgetting about his decade-old investment.

Rob 'Gronk' Gronkowski is one of the most recognisable names in the NFL over the past decade and a key player for the New England Patriots during their golden era.

Not to mention, the sports player holds the record for touchdowns in Patriots history.

During his NFL career, Gronk earned millions, including a six-year $54,000,000 contract with the Patriots in the middle of his time with the team.

But it turns out his biggest financial win came off the field, thanks to what might be his laziest investment ever.

Back in 2014, while building his house in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Gronk was repeatedly urged by his contractor to invest in Apple stock.

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund

The contractor’s relentless “get Apple, get Apple” advice finally got through and Gronk put $69,000 into the tech giant’s stock.

Crazily enough, it wasn't until nearly ten years later that the NFL player remembered his modest investment.

To his surprise, the value of Apple's stock was nearly ten times what it was at the time of initial investment.

Thanks to Apple’s massive growth, that forgotten stock has turned into a small fortune.

Simply forgetting about it had allowed the $69,000 to flourish into what is now worth over $600,000!

I guess he snoozed and didn't lose...

While he did sell a small portion of the stock early on, he held onto the bulk of it which turned out to be a winning play.

Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images

For someone with an estimated net worth of $45 million, the profits probably don't make a huge dent, but it’s still an impressive return and a reminder that sometimes doing nothing works in your favour.

It's easy to predict that companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla will continue to grow, but there are also plenty of times when big tech names have got it all wrong.

Elon Musk, for one. The Tesla CEO is by far the richest man in the world but has made his fair share of poor investments along the way.

Probably the most notable of these is his purchase of X (formerly Twitter).

According to the mutual fund Fidelity, since Musk took over in 2022, the platform’s value has dropped by 72%, losing billions in just two years.

And while that loss remains just a fraction of the billionaire's overall wealth - and track at becoming the world's first trillionaire - it's still bound to hurt.