The lifestyle of Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan may have earned
less than $100 million as the greatest player in NBA history, but that hasn't
stopped him from becoming a billionaire with a net worth of $1.6 billion.
Jordan has built the most
successful and lucrative career of any former athlete since retiring 15 years
ago.
Jordan is clearly enjoying life
after basketball, with secret golf courses, sprawling homes, and custom planes.
Jordan enjoys golfing, and the
nickname for his private golf course, Grove XXIII, has surfaced this year. It
was dubbed "Slaughterhouse 23" because it was created by Jordan, for
Jordan, with the goal of maximizing Jordan's style of play against his
opponents.
The course has opulent features,
such as a drone delivery service that delivers beer and other refreshments to
the club's elite members.
Jordan donated $2 million from
his docuseries "The Last Dance" earnings to Feeding America's food
banks in Chicago and the Carolinas last fall. "It's more important than
ever to pause and give thanks in these challenging times and in a year of
unimaginable difficulty due to COVID-19," he said in a statement.
Jordan and Nike's Jordan Brand
pledged to donate $100 million to organizations fighting for "racial
quality, social justice, and greater access to education" over the next
ten years in 2020. The announcement was made in June, in the midst of
nationwide Black Lives Matter protests over the death of George Floyd.
Jordan took an equity stake in
DraftKings as well as a special adviser role in the sports betting company,
which he announced in September. Following the announcement, the company's
stock soared by 12 percent.
The recent money movements are
unsurprising. Jordan is the world's first billionaire athlete.
He was reportedly earning $100
million per year from Nike royalties alone in 2015.
And his current earnings are far
in excess of his total playing earnings. His total NBA salary was $90 million,
with about $63 million coming in his final two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
Because of the value of his NBA
team, the Charlotte Hornets, his net worth is now estimated to be $1.6
billion...
... as well as Jordan Brand.
In 2010, he paid $175 million for
the Charlotte Hornets...
...and when the NBA franchise
value increased in 2014, he became a billionaire.
He owns 97 percent of the equity
in the team, which is now worth more than $1.5 billion.
Jordan did sell a minority stake
in the club in 2019, but he is said to have no desire to relinquish control.
Jordan has yet to witness the
Hornets win a championship. He has stated that winning a championship as an
owner would be more satisfying than winning any of his six rings as a player.
Jordan's annual earnings were
estimated to be around $145 million, according to Forbes.
In comparison, LeBron James'
annual salary, winnings, and endorsements are estimated to be less than $90
million.
When Nike founder Phil Knight
signed NBA rookie Michael Jordan for $250,000 a year in 1984, he called it the
best decision he'd ever made.
Each year, Nike's Jordan Brand
generates roughly $3.6 billion in revenue.
Air Jordans have seen a resurgence
in popularity in recent years, thanks to celebrity endorsements that appeal to
a younger audience and new versions of retro styles that appeal to older fans.
Jordan Brand, a division of Nike,
has partnered with the popular video game 'Fortnite.'
In 1984, Jordan reportedly wanted
to sign with Adidas, but they turned him down because they preferred NBA
players who were 7 feet tall.
He has a number of endorsement
deals, including with Gatorade...
Upper Deck, a trading card
company...
... as well as Hanes. He's been a company spokesman for nearly 30 years.
Jordan stated that he has always
been picky about his endorsements in order to be genuine while also building
his own brand. He once turned down a lucrative endorsement deal with Beanie
Weenies because the name bothered him.
'How can I stand in front of a
camera and say I'll eat Beanie Weenies?' Jordan asked Playboy. He claimed the
deal was worth close to $1 million per year, despite the fact that his career
earnings were less than $5 million at the time.
He owns a number of restaurants,
including Jupiter's 1000 North...
Michael Jordan's Steakhouse is a
chain of steakhouses with locations in Connecticut, Washington, and Chicago...
... as well as Michael Jordan's
Restaurant in Chicago, which serves "elevated American classics."
Jordan is one of many celebrities
who have started a tequila company. Cincoro tequila was founded by Jordan and a
team of four others in 2019.
In Durham, North Carolina, he
also owns a Nissan dealership.
Many billionaires lost money in
2019, but Jordan did not. His fortune increased by $300 million.
He can live a pretty amazing
lifestyle thanks to that steady stream of income.
He owns a private plane. It's
Carolina blue, and the ID number includes his jersey number (23) as well as the
number of titles he's won (6).
In 2012, he spent $12.8 million
on his dream home in Florida.
Grove XXIII opened in the fall of 2019 in Hobe Sound, Florida, in keeping with his obsession with the No. 23.
Jordan has a Carolina-blue golf
cart with the Jumpman logo on it.
In addition, he owns a $2.8
million home in Charlotte.
It has some spectacular views of
the lake.
His Chicago home, which was
originally listed for $29 million, is up for sale. His jersey number is
emblazoned on the estate's gate.
The house is still on the market
after eight years, and the price has dropped to $14.9 million.
It comes with its own basketball
court and a pool with a patch of grass in the middle.
Jordan is estimated to have paid
more than $680,000 in property taxes since putting the house on the market.
One of the reasons the house
hasn't sold yet, according to luxury real estate brokers, is the amount of
customization it has undergone in order to become Jordan's personal palace.
They also mention a mismatch in
location and price as a possible reason, citing the $476,391 median home value
in the Highland Park area as an example. At Jordan's price point, homes are
more likely to be closer to Lake Michigan.
Jordan won a lawsuit in 2016
against a Chinese sportswear company that used his Chinese name.
The company had been using a logo
that looked similar to Jordan's Air Jordan logo, and the symbols used in the
logo spelled out his Chinese name, Qiaodan Sports. In 2012, he filed a lawsuit
against the company, but lower courts ruled in its favor.
However, that isn't the only
lawsuit he's been involved in involving his name and branding. Without Jordan's
permission, two supermarkets, Dominick's and Jewel-Osco, partnered with him.
Jordan filed a lawsuit and was
awarded a large sum of money. However, he did not keep all of the money.
Instead, he gave millions to 23
Chicago-based charities that benefit children.
Jordan also pledged two large
donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the new Institute for
Community-Police Relations of the International Association of Chiefs of Police
in 2016. Following a series of police-involved shootings, this decision was
made.
He gave $2 million to Hurricane
Florence relief efforts in 2018.
He committed $7 million in 2019
to open two medical clinics in Charlotte.
Jordan joined forces with driver
Denny Hamlin to form a NASCAR Cup Series team co-owner the following year. They
formed 23XI racing together, with Bubba Wallace as their first driver.
Jordan's first marriage to
Juanita Vanoy resulted in three children.
In 1989, the couple married and
divorced in 2006. Jordan was awarded $168 million in the settlement for their
17-year marriage.
Jordan's three oldest children
have all gone into the shoe business with their father. Jeffrey, the eldest,
works for Nike in Oregon, while Jasmine, the youngest, has worked for her
father's NBA team as well as for Air Jordan in Charlotte.
Marcus, Jordan's second child,
opened a boutique sneaker shop called Trophy Room in Disney World, which was
inspired by the trophy room in his childhood home.
Jordan married Yvette Prieto in
2013, and Victoria and Ysabel, their twin daughters, were born in 2014.
Jordan has put some of his money
into technology startups. Gigster, a Silicon Valley startup that connects companies
with freelance software developers, designers, and project managers, was
reportedly one of several celebrities who invested heavily.
He is also a minority owner of a Major League Baseball team, the Miami Marlins, after joining Derek Jeter's investment group.
Jordan is a well-known gambler.
Jordan used to bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single hole when he
played golf, according to Charles Barkley. Others, such as Barkley, would place
a bet of a few hundred dollars.
He also allegedly ruined Rodney
McCray's career by playing $100 post-practice shooting games. MJ is said to
have taunted McCray by yelling, "You're a loser!" You've always been
a loser,' says the narrator.
Jordan even took $500 from a fan
at a charity golf tournament who claimed Jordan couldn't hit the green.
He also allegedly cheated in some
bets with his teammates to ensure his victory. Jordan would bet his teammate,
Scottie Pippen, on the outcome of mid-game animated Jumbotron races, according
to ESPN's Amin Elhassan, even though Jordan already knew which animated
character would win.
He's also a fierce competitor in
other games. He reportedly won $500 in a sudoku game against his business
manager Estee Portnoy.
Jordan is an avid golfer. But, as
Barkley put it, what's the point of participating in sports if not to make
money?
He began playing the game in a
threesome with his then-roommate and Davis Love III while at UNC.
Jordan is said to never travel
outside of the United States without a security team, which costs $1,000 to
$1,500 per hour. 'Yahweh,' a Hebrew word for God, is said to be his codename.
Mr. Terrible, a 154-foot rented
mega yacht, is another travel setback.
The yacht is fully customised
with its own logo.
Jordan purchased a collection of
Mercedes and Pontiacs as soon as he received his reported $10 million signing
bonus from the Chicago Bulls. He purchased seven automobiles at once for
himself and his family.
Since his meteoric rise to fame,
he's been seen in everything from Ferraris to Land Rovers.
Jordan is well-known for his
passion for cigars, claiming to smoke six a day according to Cigar Aficionado
magazine.
He still works out at the age of
58. He declared in 2013 that he would lose weight to get down to his playing
weight of 218 pounds, but it is unknown if he was successful.
His post-basketball career is
already having an impact on the next generation of players. Kevin Garnett has
expressed interest in buying the Minnesota Timberwolves, following in Jordan's
footsteps.
Jordan had won numerous
prestigious awards in addition to his six NBA championships. Jordan was awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016 because he
is "more than just an Internet meme," as Obama joked.
For years, Michael Jordan has
been a popular meme; many people still share this photo of Jordan crying during
his 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech on social media.
Jordan provided a chuckle at Kobe
and Gigi Bryant's memorial service in February 2020: 'Now he's got me — for the
next three years, I'll have to look at another crying meme.'
At the memorial, Jordan said,
"Everyone always wants to talk about the comparisons between him and
me." 'A piece of me died when Kobe Bryant died.'
