Considered by sports enthusiasts to be the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan now finds himself in rare air on the Forbes 400 list of the country’s wealthiest people, with a reported net worth of $3 billion.
Following the billion-dollar sale of his majority stake in his NBA franchise, the Charlotte Hornets, and further building on his untouchable Jordan Brand empire, the
6-foot-6 former shooting guard from North Carolina is now the first athlete to be named one of America’s wealthiest, as reported by Forbes.“Michael’s one of the few people that have had success three times,” said Ted Leonsis, the Washington Wizards, Mystics, and Capitals owner who has partnered with Jordan on several endeavors.
“A lot of entrepreneurs, they make it once. They have a big win, take their winnings, retire, and [we] never hear from them again, or they try something a second time and it doesn’t work. He’s had three mega successes.”
Jordan’s good fortune began with his God-like dominance of the NBA, for which he was the highest-paid player in 1997 and 1998, earning $94 million across 15 seasons. However, his one-of-a-kind relationship with Nike truly etched him into the
financial Mount Rushmore of sports talent. The six-time NBA champion most recently received $260 million in royalties from the athletic brand, as reported by Forbes. The Jordan Brand has continued to dominate sales for Nike via re-releases of some of the former player’s most beloved sneakers, with a reported wholesale revenue of $6.6 billion annually.To date, only three former or active athletes have achieved billionaire status: Jordan, LeBron James
, and Tiger Woods. However, James and Woods have not yet cracked the Forbes 400 list.Though Jordan has stepped away from his majority ownership role with the Charlotte Hornets, he still holds a small stake in the team. He also cofounded NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing in 2020.
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