Could we say "invest something in somebody"?

Question

Ok, now, in the dictionary

invest [intransitive, transitive] to buy property, shares in a company, etc. in the hope of making a profit

invest (in something)

Now is a good time to invest in the property market.

invest something (in something)

He invested his life savings in his daughter's business.

Ok, let say we've known a child who has great soccer skills but he is poor & he can not afford to join a well-known training school. Now, we want to pay all the school fee for him & he will pay us a lot of money back in the future when he is famous.

My question is:

Could we say "I want to invest money on him"?

We also have the structure "invest somebody (with something)" in the dictionary

[transitive] (formal) to give somebody power or authority, especially as part of their job

invest somebody (with something) The new position invested her with a good deal of responsibility.

invest somebody (as something) The interview was broadcast on the same day he was invested as President.

But the structure "invest somebody (with something)" does not carry the meaning that we make some profit in the future.

Answer 1

Yes, actually you can. I don't know if the usage is recent (and idiomatic) but for example you can "invest time in someone (or something)":

I invested a lot of time in Sheila, grooming her for the executive position, but she turned out to be a poor fit for the role.

The metaphor is that time is a valuable commodity like any other, and you can choose to invest it in a person, project, or entity, to (hopefully) produce some kind of profitable return.