Michael Jordan is a retired professional basketball legend, the world’s most successful product endorser, a professional basketball team owner, and entrepreneur.
Jordan played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he helped that team win an NCAA championship in 1982 and also won gold at the Pan American Games in the same year. In 1984, Jordan led the United States team to an Olympic gold medal while he was still in college.[1]
During his career, Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA and is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time among other players, team mates, and fans. He won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player five times, achieved ten scoring titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. Michael Jordan won back-to-back dunk contest victories in 1987 and in 1988. He also won a second gold medal in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona during his professional career during that same time period.
These are just a few of his many accomplishments in his long basketball career that spanned a decade and a half. In addition to his successful playing career, Jordan has also had a highly lucrative career as a product endorser and businessman. He has endorsement deals with major brands such as Nike and Gatorade.
In this blog post, we will take a closer look at Michael Jordan’s net worth in 2023 and the various sources of his income.
Jordan’s earnings as a professional basketball player
During his playing career, Michael Jordan was one of the highest-paid athletes in the world. He signed several record-breaking contracts throughout his career, including a five-year, $30 million deal with the Chicago Bulls in 1988. This was the largest contract in NBA history at the time.
It’s estimated that these endorsement deals earned him an additional $1 billion throughout his career.
His salary during his career totaled $90 million, but he has earned $1.8 billion (pre-tax) from such corporate partners as Nike, Hanes and Gatorade all time counting after his retirement.[2]
Michael Jordan still earns $100 million an average each year from paid endorsements. His businesses partners still include Nike, Hanes, Gatorade, and Upper Deck. He also became the first billionaire athlete in history in 2014, per Business Insider.
Upper Deck has signed a long-term renewal with Michael Jordan for collectibles and memorabilia. Under the new agreement, the company will continue to be the sole producer of authenticated collectibles, trading cards and memorabilia featuring the athlete’s image and autograph.[3]
Jordan’s business ventures
In addition to his earnings as a professional basketball player, Jordan has also had a successful career as a businessman. Jordan also has a stake in several other businesses and investments.
Michael Jordan is currently the principal owner of the NBA Charlotte Hornets. He acquired a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2010 for $175 million. He sold a minority stake in the team in September 2019 setting the new team valuation at $1.5 billion. His ownership stake in this National Basketball Association team added over a billion dollars to his net worth.
One of Jordan’s most lucrative ventures has been the Nike Air Jordan brand. The brand, launched in 1984, has become one of the most popular and successful shoe lines in history. In addition to the Air Jordan brand, Jordan also has his own brand, called Jordan Brand, a Nike subsidiary.
MJ joined sports-betting firm DraftKings as a special advisor to the board and an investor in September 2020. In a press release, the company said Jordan will be “providing guidance and strategic advice to the board of directors on key business initiatives.” Terms of his investment were not disclosed.[4]
He also became a NASCAR team co-owner in late 2020. 23XI Racing (twenty-three eleven) is a professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. It’s owned and operated by Michael Jordan, with current Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin as a minority partner. The organization fields the No. 23 and 45 Toyota teams for drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, with a technical alliance with JGR.[5]
Jordan’s current net worth
In 2016, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history. That year, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[6]
In 2023, Michael Jordan’s net worth is estimated to be around $1.7 billion according to Forbes. This makes him the wealthiest athlete in the world and puts him in the same league as other high-net-worth sports stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiger Woods.
He topped $2 billion in net worth for the first time in 2020, before seeing his net worth decline through the pandemic. His net worth has stayed steady and he has held his billionaire status for over six years. His net worth has been more stable than other billionaires as he holds more private businesses that aren’t publicly traded.
Conclusion
Throughout his career, Michael Jordan has had an incredible amount of financial success. His earnings as a professional basketball player and his successful business ventures have contributed to his impressive net worth as the richest athlete in the world. Jordan’s income as a player came from his salary and endorsements, with his record-breaking contracts and partnerships with major brands earning him almost two billions dollars. Michael Jordan earned over twenty times more through endorsements than he made through his professional basketball salary. This shows the money available in advertising.
In addition to his income as a player, Jordan has also had a successful career as a businessman. He owns the Charlotte Hornets and has a stake in several other businesses, including the Nike Air Jordan Brand. These ventures have contributed significantly to his net worth and will continue to do so. Jordan’s net worth will likely continue to grow as he invests in and grows his various business ventures and his endorsement deal cash flow continues.
Michael Jordan is a great example of the importance of leveraging your earned income with investments to grow your wealth. He also leveraged the personal brand he created as a basketball star and leveraged it to scale as a brand influencer. Michael Jordan became a multi-millionaire through playing basketball, he earned over a billion dollars through endorsements, and converted his wealth into equity ownership in an NBA basketball team. Even for Michael Jordan the fastest path to sustained wealth was through equity ownership in a business more than his earned income. Something for everyone to think about.
