Basketball Legend Michael Jordan
Wikimedia CommonsMichael Jordan’s stake in the ownership of the Charlotte Hornets has made him a billionaire since 2015.
Given Michael Jordan’s legendary sports career, it’s no surprise that he’s on Forbes’ Billionaires List with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion. As another basketball star, Magic Johnson, put it: “There’s Michael Jordan and then there is the rest of us.”
But Michael Jordan’s wealth didn’t just come from his high-paying salary with the Chicago Bulls, which totaled $90 million during his career.
Although born in Brooklyn, New York, Michael Jordan grew up in North Carolina. He had an especially strong bond with his father, James Jordan, thanks to their first shared love of baseball. But before long, Jordan turned his attention to basketball.
After a successful career in student sports, Michael Jordan graduated to the big leagues playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He made his debut in 1984 when he was drafted to the Chicago Bulls.
That first year of his career, Michael Jordan scored an average of 28.2 points per game, securing the title of Rookie of the Year. By his next year, NBA legend Larry Bird described Michael Jordan as God in disguise.
Throughout his career, Michael Jordan was a six-time NBA champion, six-time NBA Finals MVP, 14-time NBA All-Star, and three-time NBA All-Star MVP, just to name a few of his countless achievements on the court.
Of course, it pays to be the NBA’s best player. Off the court, Jordan secured plenty of partnerships with big brands like Gatorade, Hanes, Upper Deck, and Nike, which spawned the cult-favorite Air Jordan sneakers.
Michael Jordan also wisely invested his money into sports team ownership, which can be one of the most lucrative business ventures in America. He bought a majority interest in an NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, in 2010. Five years later, Jordan made his debut on the Billionaires List.
The majority of Jordan’s wealth comes from his stake in the Hornets and his Jordan brand deal with Nike, which broke its first billion-dollar milestone in 2019.
“It is the richest athlete endorsement deal ever,” Forbes noted of Jordan’s long partnership with Nike, “but also arguably the biggest bargain given that Jordan helped transform Nike from a scrappy underdog into one of the largest, most valuable consumer brands in the world.”
His remarkable life story from basketball rookie to NBA icon was recently adapted onto the small screen in the 2020 docuseries The Last Dance on ESPN.
