How Michael Jordan makes and spends his $1.6 billion fortune
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Michael Jordan is considered to be the greatest NBA player of all time. He's also the richest former professional athlete in the world.
Jordan made less than $100 million while a player in the NBA, but has been a member of three-comma club since 2014. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $1.6 billion. Since he retired in 2003, he has built a lucrative career, predominantly through deals with NIke.
He just announced a $2 million donation of earnings from his recent ESPN docuseries "The Last Dance" to food banks in the Carolinas and Chicago. Before that, he pledged a donation of $100 million to 'drive real impact for the Black Community' amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests in June.
In addition to using his wealth for philanthropic purposes, he also indulges in personal enjoyment: He owns sprawling estates, his own golf course, an NBA team, multiple restaurants, and interest in DraftKings.
Michael Jordan just donated $2 million of his earnings from his docuseries "The Last Dance" to Feeding America's food banks in Chicago and the Carolinas. "In these challenging times and in a year of unimaginable difficulty due to COVID-19, it's more important than ever to pause and give thanks," he said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Jordan and Nike's Jordan Brand pledged to donate $100 million over 10 years to organizations fighting for 'racial quality, social justice, and greater access to education.' The June announcement came amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests over the killing of George Floyd.
Source: Insider
DraftKings announced in September that Jordan took an equity stake in the sports betting company, along with a special adviser role. The company's shares surged 12% immediately following the announcement.
Source: Business Insider
The recent money moves come as no surprise. Jordan is the world's first athlete billionaire.
Source: Daily Mail
As of 2015, he was reportedly making $100 million a year from Nike royalties alone.
Source: Business Insider
And his income now is way more than his total playing salary during his career. He earned $90 million total in NBA salary, and about $63 million of that came in his final two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
Source: Forbes, Spotrac, Basketball-Reference
His net worth is now believed to be $1.6 billion thanks to the value of his NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets ...
Source: Money
... and the Jordan Brand.
Source: Forbes
He bought the Charlotte Hornets in 2010 for $175 million ...
Source: Forbes, Business Insider
... and he officially became a billionaire in 2014 when the NBA franchise value rose.
Source: Business Insider
The team is now worth more than $1.5 billion, and he owns 97% of the equity in the club.
Source: Forbes
Jordan did sell a minority stake in the club in 2019, but he reportedly has no interest in giving up control of the team.
Source: Charlotte Observer
Jordan is still waiting for the day the Hornets win a championship. He has said that winning a championship as an owner would be more gratifying than any of the six rings he won as a player.
Source: Business Insider
According to Forbes, Jordan's yearly earnings were roughly $145 million.
Source: Forbes
For comparison, LeBron James is estimated to earn less than $90 million a year from salary, winnings, and endorsements.
Source: Forbes
Nike founder Phil Knight called signing Jordan the best decision he ever made, nabbing the NBA rookie for $250,000 a year in 1984.
Source: Business Insider
Nike's Jordan Brand alone now brings in roughly $3 billion in revenue each year.
Source: Business Insider, Los Angeles Times
The popularity of Air Jordans has resurged in recent years thanks to celebrity partnerships to connect to a younger audience and new versions of retro styles to reconnect to the older fans.
Source: Business Insider
Nike's Jordan Brand has even partnered with the popular video game 'Fortnite.'
Source: Business Insider
Jordan reportedly wanted to sign with Adidas in 1984, but they passed because they preferred NBA players who were 7 feet tall.
Source: Business Insider
He has several endorsement deals with companies like Gatorade ...
Source: Business Insider
... trading card company Upper Deck ...
Source: Business Insider
... and Hanes. He's been a spokesman for the company for nearly 30 years.
Source: Business Insider
Jordan said he has always been picky about his endorsements because he wanted to be genuine and also build his own brand. He once rejected a huge endorsement deal with Beanee Weenees because he didn't like the name.
Source: Playboy
Jordan told Playboy, 'How can I stand in front of a camera and say I'll eat Beanee Weenees?' He said the deal was close to $1 million per year — at the time, he had made less than $5 million in career earnings.
Source: Playboy
He owns several restaurants including 1000 North in Jupiter, Florida ...
Source: Business Insider, Eater
... Michael Jordan's Steakhouse, which has locations in Connecticut, Washington, and Chicago ...
Source: Michael Jordan's Steakhouse
... and Michael Jordan's Restaurant in Chicago, an upscale restaurant serving 'elevated American classics.'
Source: Michael Jordan's Restaurant
He also owns a Nissan dealership in Durham, North Carolina.
Source: Business Insider, Michael Jordan Nissan
In 2019, many billionaires lost money — but not Jordan. His net worth rose by $300 million.
Source: Forbes
That steady stream of income lets him live a pretty amazing lifestyle.
He has a private jet. It's painted Carolina blue, and the ID number contains his jersey number (23) and number of titles (6).
Source: Business Insider
He spent $12.8 million building his dream house in Florida in 2012.
Source: Yahoo, Business Insider
He reportedly decided to build a private golf course because he was annoyed by the pace of play at his previous country club.
Source: GOLF.com
The Hobe Sound, Florida, course is called Grove XXIII — keeping with his obsession with the No. 23 — and opened in the fall of 2019.
Source: Golf Digest
Jordan even has a custom, Carolina-blue golf cart with the Jumpman logo.
Source: Business Insider
He also has a $2.8 million house near Charlotte.
Source: Business Insider
It has some incredible lake views.
Source: Business Insider
He's selling his compound in Chicago, which was originally listed for $29 million. The estate's gate is emblazoned with his jersey number.
Source: Business Insider
But eight years later, the house is still on the market and the price is down to $14.9 million.
Source: Business Insider, Zillow
It has its own basketball court, as well as a pool with a patch of lawn in the middle of it.
Source: Business Insider
It is estimated that Jordan has paid more than $680,000 in property taxes since he put the house up for sale.
Source: Business Insider
And he still pays a full-time staff to keep it up and running.
Source: Business Insider
Luxury real estate brokers think the amount of customization the house has undergone in order to become Jordan's personal palace is one of a few reasons why the property hasn't sold yet.
Source: Business Insider
They also list the mismatch of location and price as a possible reason — homes in the Highland Park area have a median value of $476,391. Homes at the price point Jordan is listing are typically located closer to Lake Michigan.
Source: Business Insider, Zillow
In 2016, Jordan won a case against a Chinese sportswear company that was using his Chinese name.
Source: Business Insider
The company had been using a logo similar to Jordan's Air Jordan logo, and the symbols used spell out his name in Chinese — Qiaodan Sports. He first sued the company in 2012, but lower-level courts ruled in favor of the company.
Source: Business Insider
That's not the only lawsuit he's been involved in though pertaining to his name and branding. Two supermarkets, Dominick's and Jewel-Osco, associated themselves with Jordan without his permission.
Source: Business Insider
Jordan sued and won millions. But he didn't keep all the money.
Source: Business Insider
Instead, he donated millions to 23 charities benefiting the children of Chicago.
Source: Business Insider
In 2016, Jordan also pledged two large donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the International Association of Chiefs of Police's new Institute for Community-Police Relations. This came after a string of police-involved shootings.
Source: Business Insider
In 2018, he donated $2 million to Hurricane Florence relief efforts.
Source: Chicago Tribune
In 2019, he pledged $7 million to open two medical clinics in Charlotte.
Source: Business Insider
Jordan has three children from his first marriage with Juanita Vanoy.
Source: Biography
The pair married in 1989 and divorced in 2006. The 17-year marriage cost Jordan a whopping $168 million in the settlement.
Source: Biography, NBC Chicago
Jordan's three oldest children have all followed their father into the shoe business. Jeffrey, the oldest, works at Nike in Oregon, and Jasmine, the youngest, has worked for her father's NBA team as well as being an Air Jordan representative in Charlotte.
Source: Business Insider
Marcus, Jordan's second child, opened a boutique sneaker shop in Disney World called Trophy Room inspired by the trophy room in his house growing up.
Source: Business Insider, Bleacher Report
Jordan married Yvette Prieto in 2013, and they welcomed twin daughters, Victoria and Ysabel, in 2014.
Source: USA Today
Jordan has invested some of his fortune in tech startups. He was reportedly one of several celebrities who invested heavily in Gigster — a Silicon Valley startup connecting companies to freelance software developers, designers, and project managers.
Source: Business Insider, Gigster
He is also a minority owner of an MLB team — the Miami Marlins — having been part of Derek Jeter's investment group.
Source: Business Insider
Jordan is also a famous gambler. Charles Barkley told Dan Patrick Jordan used to wager hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single hole when he played golf. While others, like Barkley himself, would wager a few hundred dollars.
Source: Business Insider, Dan Patrick Show
He also used to play $100 post-practice shooting games. One source said Jordan's taunting of Rodney McCray may have ruined McCray's career.
Source: Business Insider
He even took $500 from a fan at a charity golf tournament when the fan said Jordan couldn't land the ball on the green.
Source: deepac66 via YouTube, Golf Digest
And he reportedly cheated in some bets with his teammates to make sure he won. ESPN's Amin Elhassan said Jordan would bet his teammate, Scottie Pippen, on the outcome of mid-game, animated Jumbotron races, even though Jordan already knew which animated character would win.
Source: CBS Sports
He's also competitive at other kinds of games. He reportedly won $500 beating his business manager Estee Portnoy in sudoku.
Source: ESPN
Jordan plays a lot of golf. But, as Barkley put it, what's the point in playing the sport if not for some cash?
Source: Dan Patrick Show
He started playing the game while at UNC in a threesome with his then-roommate and Davis Love III.
Source: Business Insider
Jordan reportedly took Love's driver for a test-run once and ended up breaking the club completely. Love had to replace it, and it seems to have worked out in his favor — he went on to win 12 PGA Tour events during the 12 years he was using the replacement driver.
Source: Business Insider
Jordan reportedly never travels overseas without a security team, which sets him back a cool $1,000 to $1,500 per hour. His codename is reportedly 'Yahweh,' a Hebrew word for God.
Other travel setbacks include this 154-foot rented mega yacht named Mr. Terrible.
Source: Business Insider, ESPN
The yacht is complete with its own branding.
Source: LaserAdvertising
The very first cars Jordan bought after he received his reported $10 million signing bonus from the Chicago Bulls were a collection of Mercedes and Pontiacs. He bought seven cars at once for himself and his family members.
Source: D Magazine
Since his rise to fame, he's been spotted in all kinds of cars, from Ferraris to Land Rovers.
Source: Cheat Sheet
Jordan is well known for his love of cigars and told Cigar Aficionado magazine that he smokes six a day.
Source: Cigar Aficionado
At age 57, he still works out. In 2013, he declared he was going to get down to his playing weight of 218 pounds — it is unknown if he reached the goal.
Source: ESPN
His post-basketball career is already influencing the next generation. Kevin Garnett has talked about following in Jordan's footsteps and buying the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Source: USA Today
In addition to winning six NBA championships, Jordan had won other prestigious awards. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom because, as Obama joked, Jordan is 'more than just an Internet meme.'
Source: Sports Illustrated
Jordan has been been a preferred meme for years — many still post this photo of Jordan crying during his 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech all over social media.
Source: Know Your Meme
Jordan provided a moment of levity at the memorial service for Kobe and Gigi Bryant in February 2020: 'Now he's got me — I'll have to look at another crying meme for the next three years.'
Source: Business Insider
'Everyone always wants to talk about the comparisons between he and I,' Jordan said at the memorial. 'When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died.'
Source: Business Insider
ESPN's highly anticipated docuseries about Jordan's time on the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls team dropped in April. He's had a busy year since, donating his earnings from the docuseries to food banks, donating millions more to furthering racial equity, and taking an equity stake in DraftKings.
Source: Business Insider
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