Michael Jordan on Forbes' list of billionaires for second straight year
Michael Jordan is the 1,577th-richest person on the planet.
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1 min read
Michael Jordan's playing days are a thing of the past but his Airness still keeps collecting checks.
Jordan earns his income from a variety of sources like endorsements with Hanes and Gatorade or as the owner of the Charlotte Hornets or through his Brand Jordan collection with Nike. All of these different sources of income obviously add up and has put Jordan on Forbes' "World Billionaires" list for the second straight year.
According to Forbes, Jordan has a net worth of $1.1 billion, which makes him the 1,577th richest person in the world. Jordan is the 486th richest American. Last year, Jordan was 1,741st on the same list so business is obviously going quite good for him as he rose over 150 spots on the 2016 list.
More about Jordan's wealth from Forbes:
A well-timed investment in the Charlotte Hornets basketball team lifted star athlete Michael Jordan into the billionaire ranks in 2015, and is keeping him there this year. He acquired a majority stake in the Hornets in 2010 for $175 million. He increased his ownership to 90% in 2013. In 2014 NBA franchise values shot up, thanks largely to racist comments by Donald Sterling that got him banned from the league and led to a bidding war for his Los Angeles Clippers, which was sold to Steve Ballmer for a record $2 billion. The deal helped boost the value of Jordan's Hornets stake to $500 million. MJ is widely acknowledged as the greatest basketball player of all-time, but his salary rarely matched his stature. He was the NBA's highest-paid player only twice during his 15-year career. His total career playing salary was $90 million, but Jordan has earned another $1.2 billion (pre-tax) from corporate partners since he left North Carolina in 1984. His biggest backer has always been Nike, which generates $2 billion in revenue annually from the Jordan Brand. Nike commands 90% of the U.S. basketball shoe market, with the Jordan Brand representing more than half of that. MJ maintains his longtime endorsement relationships with Gatorade, Hanes and Upper Deck. He also owns seven restaurants and a car dealership.
Jordan is the only former athlete on the list but fellow NBA team owners Paul Allen (Trail Blazers) and Steve Ballmer (Clippers) are also on there and are ranked higher.
