Supporting Black Lives Matter to buying NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, how Michael Jordan spends, and earns, his US$1.6 billion fortune
Thanks to the NBA, Nike and his shrewd business investments, Michael Jordan is the world’s first billionaire athlete, but the basketball legend puts his money where his mouth is – when George Floyd was killed, Jordan stepped up with a huge donation; when the pace of play at his local golf club was too slow, he simply bought his own
Jordan made less than US$100 million during his time in the NBA, but since his retirement in 2003, he has built a lucrative career through deals with Nike and owning his own team. By 2014 he had joined the three-comma club, with Forbes estimating his current net worth at US$1.6 billion.
Earlier this summer, Jordan and Nike’s Jordan brand pledged to donate US$100 million over 10 years to organisations fighting for “racial equality, social justice, and greater access to education” following the US’ nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
Then, just last week, he took an equity interest in fantasy sports betting outfit DraftKings, announcing that he would be advising its board of directors. As a result, shares in the company surged by 12 per cent. Both moves should come as no surprise: Jordan is in fact the world’s first athlete billionaire.
So how did he accumulate such wealth, and what else does the two-metre-tall (six-foot-six) retired basketball legend spend all of that cash on? The answers may surprise you.
Despite his staggering pay packet as a young basketball player, Jordan’s income today far exceeds the amount he made during his career. He earned a total of US$90 million in NBA salary, with about US$63 million of that coming from his final two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
As of 2015, he was reportedly making US$100 million a year from Nike royalties alone.
