- Michael Jordan has entered the Forbes 400 club after he sold his majority stake of the Hornets
- Jordan is the first professional athlete to make it in
- He now has a net worth of $3 billion
Michael Jordan continues to be the gold standard for professional athletes post-retirement. Jordan has now broken new ground once again, as he has become the first professional athlete to enter the Forbes 400 club, with a staggering net worth of $3 billion, as per Justin Birnbaum.
He was the first professional athlete to become a billionaire back in 2014 and was followed by Tiger Woods and LeBron James. It doesn’t seem like either of the two would be catching Jordan anytime soon, though. This latest milestone was hit thanks largely to Jordan selling his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion.
Birnbaum writes that Forbes had valued the Horners at $1.7 billion in 2022, but the Chicago Bulls icon managed to get a whole lot more. He had purchased the team for $275 million in 2010, and it turned out to be a phenomenal investment.
Jordan’s deal with Nike, meanwhile, continues to generate massive payouts. The 60-year-old gets paid a 5% royalty on all sales made on his line, and his most recent yearly cheque was for about $260 million.
Jordan only earned $93.9 million in salaries during his time in the NBA, but as per Birnbaum, has now netted an estimated $2.4 billion via his various partnerships.
The Success Of The Jordan Brand
To say that the Jordan brand has been a massive success would be an understatement. In the fiscal year 2022, the Jordan brand reached over $5 billion in annual revenues for the first time.
The Jordan brand has earned $19 billion in the last five years alone for Nike and the numbers are only going to keep going up. The Jordan brand is now also the world’s second-most popular sneaker brand, only behind Nike itself, and this is certainly one of the most successful business partnerships ever.
Thanks to all of that, Jordan earns a ridiculous $6 million from Nike every 8.6 days. He is going to get an even bigger cheque as time goes by, and it’s safe to say Jordan is unlikely to ever run into any kind of money-related issues.
Jordan Is Now Focused On NASCAR
Jordan still holds a minority share with the Hornets, but he is of course no longer as involved as he once was. His focus has now shifted to his NASCAR team, 23XI Racing. Jordan co-founded the team in 2020 with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin revealed Jordan has been more active in managing their NASCAR team since selling the Hornets. If his track record is anything to go by, the six-time NBA champion is probably going to turn this into a very successful business as well.
While Jordan would be hoping to emulate the success he had with the Hornets from a business standpoint, he’d be hoping for a lot more success from a sports standpoint. The Hornets never even came close to winning a championship under his ownership, as they didn’t even win a playoff series.
So far, 23XI Racing hasn’t won a championship but has won five races and got pole position twice.
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