Michael Jordan Net Worth: How Did He Become a Billionaire?

Michael Jordan is a former American basketball player who now owns a team, promotes products, and runs his own business.  Michael Jordan is probably still the most famous basketball player in the world.

Michael Jordan is the player and person that everyone else tries to match up to. The press is always looking for the “next Michael Jordan,” and every season, a new player is crowned (or saddled) with the title. In the meantime, Michael Jordan continues to enjoy his semi-retirement, his many endorsement and development deals, and his reputation as the best basketball player of all time.

Six NBA championships were won by the Chicago Bulls under Jordan’s direction. He has won league MVP five times. He has the highest career scoring average of all time, and on September 11, 2009, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Early Years of Michael Jordan’s Life

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in New York City on February 17, 1963. His mom, Deloris, worked in finance, and his dad, James R. Jordan Sr., was a supervisor of equipment. When Michael was a little boy, his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina.

Michael went to Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he played basketball, baseball, and football. As a sophomore, he tried out for the varsity basketball team but was turned down because he was “only” 5 feet 11 inches tall. After being turned down, MJ worked very hard to do well on the Junior Varsity team. He grew four inches over the summer between his sophomore and junior years, which helped him get that coveted spot on the varsity team.

Michael set the varsity team on fire. During his junior and senior years, he averaged 25 points per game. He was chosen to play in the 1981 McDonald’s All-American Game as a senior, where he scored 30 points.

Michael Jordan’s College Career

Michael, who was now 6 feet 6 inches tall, was recruited by a lot of colleges, like Syracuse, UVA, Duke, and the University of North Carolina. In the end, he chose to go to UNC.

At UNC, he averaged 13.5 points per game and was named ACC Freshman of the Year. He led the team to the 1982 NCAA Championship against the Georgetown Hoyas. With 15 seconds left in the game, Michael made a shot over Georgetown Center Patrick Ewing that gave his team the lead.

This shot would end up being the one that won the game. Michael would later say that this game and that shot were a big turning point for his confidence and his basketball career as a whole.

Michael Jordan Net Worth

Michael Jordan is the only NBA player who has ever made a billion dollars. According to celebritynetworth He has a huge net worth of $2.2 billion, which he got from playing basketball, endorsing brands, and selling his own brand, Jordan. He makes $40 million every year, which is just crazy.
Six NBA championships were won by the Chicago Bulls under Jordan’s direction. He has won league MVP five times. He has the highest career scoring average of all time, and on September 11, 2009, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

NBA Career of Michael Jordan

Michael played for the UNC Tar Heels for three years. In 1984, he won both the Naismith and Wooden College Player of the Year awards. He left UNC a year early to join the military in 1984. Michael went back to UNC in 1986 to finish his degree. He got a Bachelor’s degree in geography, which is very impressive.

It’s strange that he wasn’t the first choice. He was picked THIRD, after Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie. The Chicago Bulls took Michael with the third pick in the whole draught.

Michael Jordan Net Worth
Michael Jordan Net Worth

On September 12, 1984, Michael signed his first contract with the Bulls. The deal was for seven years and $6 million, which comes out to about $850,000 per season on average. In the year before Michael joined the team, only six games were sold out. When Michael was a rookie, the number of fans at games doubled.

At the end of Michael’s fifth season, he and Chicago agreed to a new contract worth $25 million over the next eight years. It was the biggest deal ever made in the NBA up to that point. Because of this, Michael’s salary went up to about $5 million per year. When this deal ended in 1996, Michael signed a one-year deal worth $30 million. He signed a one-year deal for $33.14 million the following year. Taking inflation into account, the second one is worth about $55 million today.

Michael left the NBA and came back twice. He retired once to play baseball in a small league. The second time he played in the NBA, he did so for two years with the Washington Wizards. We’ve already said that Michael made a total of $93.7 million during his NBA career. Taking into account inflation each year, he made $161 million in salary.

Deal with Nike and Royalties Every Year

Before Michael Jordan, James Worthy’s $150,000-a-year deal with New Balance was the largest shoe endorsement deal in the world. In 1984, when Nike agreed to pay Jordan $500,000 a year for five years, it was the biggest endorsement deal ever. Jordan was also given stock options from Nike, which brought his total pay over five years to $7 million. Michael had never worn Nike shoes before signing the deal. He had wanted to sign with Adidas, but Nike’s offer was too good to pass up and too much for Adidas to match.

Michael Jordan Net Worth
Michael Jordan Net Worth

When he first wore them, the NBA’s rules about uniformity were broken. Nike paid all of the league’s fines and used the scandal to get people interested in the brand. When the Air Jordan shoe first came out in March 1985, it sold over a million pairs in just two months. Nike made $100 million in its first year of selling Air Jordan shoes. 58% of all basketball shoes sold today are Air Jordans, and the brand makes Nike more than $2.5 billion a year.

In 1992, every pair of Jordan shoes that sold made Michael 25 cents. Today, he makes $4 for each shoe he sells.From 2002 to 2012, Nike gave Michael $480 million for the right to use his name on shoes. Michael Jordan’s annual check from Nike for royalties is usually between $80 and $100 million. But in recent years, his royalty check has been between $100 million and $120 million.

Endorsements of Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has been a spokesperson for many companies throughout his long and successful career, including Nike, Gatorade, Wheaties, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan also has deals with Upper Deck, 2K Sports, and Five Star Fragrances. He owns a place that sells cars and seven places to eat.

After Nike, one of his first big endorsement deals was with Gatorade. This was a deal that would be important to him for the rest of his life. Michael signed a 10-year, $18 million endorsement deal with Gatorade at the end of the 1989 season. The famous “Be Like Mike” Gatorade ad ran for the first time after the Bulls won their first of six championships. The partnership between Michael and Gatorade made both the brand and the person even more popular.

A supermarket chain was sued in 2015 for allegedly using Michael’s image without his permission. The lawsuit showed that Michael only signs deals if he thinks he will make at least $10 million from them. We also found out that Michael turned down $80 million to be the face of a line of headphones because he doesn’t like wearing them. Michael Jordan has made $1.4 billion from corporate partners so far in his career (before taxes).

Juanita Jordan Divorce Settlement

In September 1989, Michael married Juanita Vanoy. Together, they had three children. After 13 years of marriage, Michael filed for divorce from Juanita Jordan in 2002. In the end, he had to pay her a $168 million divorce settlement. It was one of the divorces that cost the most money in history.

The settlement gave them money, stocks, and the value of the different properties they owned. Since April 2013, Michael has been married to the Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto. In February 2014, she gave birth to twin girls who were exactly the same.

How Michael Jordan got to be worth $1 billion

Michael’s net worth in 2006 was about $450 million after taxes, divorce settlements, and other costs of living. In the same year, he bought a small share of the NBA team the Charlotte Bobcats. At the time, he was the team’s second-biggest owner, after the man who started BET, Robert Johnson. Michael paid Robert $175 million in 2010 to buy out his share of the team. Michael now owned 80% of the team after this deal.

Michael Jordan Net Worth
Michael Jordan Net Worth

In June 2014, it was found out that Michael had once again raised his share of ownership, this time from 80% to 89.5%. At the time, the Hornets, who had just changed their name, were worth $500 million and had $135 million in debt. At this time, the Clippers, which had been worth $500 million not long before, sold for $2 billion.

If the Hornets were really worth $600 million at this point, Michael’s share after paying off his debts would be worth $416 million. When added to his other $600 million in wealth, this would make Michael Jordan the first person in the world to be worth $1 billion. In 2019, Michael sold a small piece of his stake to Gabe Plotkin and Daniel Sundheim, who run hedge funds, for $1.5 billion.

Read More: Carlos Beltran Net Worth: How Much Did He Make as a Baseball Player?

Michael Jordan Real Estate

Today, Michael’s main home is a luxurious mansion in Jupiter, Florida. The 11-bedroom, 26,000-square-foot home is on three acres and is in Jack Nicklaus’s very exclusive Bear’s Club neighborhood. He paid $4.8 million for the land in 2011 and then spent two years and $7.6 million building his dream house.

Michael bought a huge house on a lake in Charlotte, North Carolina, for $2.8 million in March 2013. Michael Jordan’s lake house in Charlotte is 12,310 square feet and has eight bathrooms and six bedrooms. It is right on the water on a lot that is almost 50,000 square feet.

The inside has vaulted ceilings, marble and hardwood floors, more than one fireplace, and an elevator, and some of the bathrooms have jacuzzi tubs. From almost every side of the house, there are beautiful views of the nearby lake through floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, there is a pool and a pier that leads to a lakeside gazebo. Michael also owns a property in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a high-end condo in the city, so he can be close to both of his cars.

Read More: Billy Beane Net Worth: How Much Does He Earn From His Professional Life?

Michael Jordan’s Mansion in Chicago

Michael still owns a big house in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chicago. During many of the years he set records with the Chicago Bulls, he lived in the mansion.

In 1991, Michael bought a lot in Highland Park and started building his dream home right away. The end result was a 7-acre property with a 32,683-square-foot main house. The house has nine bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, an NBA-quality basketball court, a pool pavilion, a 15-car garage, a card room, tennis courts, a PGA-quality putting green, a cigar room, a wine cellar, and so much more.

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Medal of Freedom given by the President

In November 2016, Barack Obama gave Michael Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom. On the same day, Vin Scully, Tom Hanks, Bruce Springsteen, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar were also given the award.

Philanthropy by Michael Jordan

During his playing days, one of the biggest complaints about Michael was that he might not have used his money and power enough to help charities and other good causes. In the 1990s, for example, he was criticized for not taking a side in the North Carolina senate race between Jesse Helms and Harvey Gannt, an African-American (a well-known racist).

Michael joked that he didn’t want to support Gantt because “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” When asked why he didn’t choose a side, he said, “I don’t want to take sides.” Gannt didn’t win the race, and Helms stayed in the Senate for another 23 years. Later, Michael would say that his quote was taken out of context, but it was too late.

Michael’s first big act of charity was giving $2 million to the Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Each group got $1 million.

Michael promised $7.2 million in 2017 to help open two health clinics in Charlotte for low-income and uninsured people. In October 2019, the first hospital opened. In October 2020, the second one opened.

In April 2020, Michael said that he was giving all of the money he made from “The Last Dance,” which was estimated to be between $3 and $4 million, to charity.

Michael gave $2 million to Feeding America in November 2020, when COVID was at its worst.

In June 2020, Michael and the Jordan brand announced that they would give $100 million over the next 10 years to “organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice, and greater access to education.” This made a big splash in the world of charity.

Conclusion,

we can say that Michael Jordan is one of the most successful athletes the world has ever seen. He has made a lot of money with his basketball career, his brand, and his business. He is a great athlete who has helped the NBA become well-known. Everyone in the world knows about him and looks up to him. Many people who want to get into sports look up to him.

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