October 30, (THEWILL) – American businessman and former professional basketball player, Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr., has been declared a billionaire by Forbes, making him only the fourth athlete to join the exclusive club.
The business magazine approximates Johnson’s wealth to be around $1.2 billion (£990 million). Joining the ranks of athlete billionaires are NBA players Michael Jordan and LeBron James, as well as golfer Tiger Woods.
However, Forbes indicates that the majority of his wealth comes from his stake in a life insurance company. He has stakes in a number of LA sports teams, including the Women’s NBA squad Los Angeles Sparks, baseball franchise Los Angeles Dodgers and football’s LAFC.
Despite retiring from his iconic NBA career in 1996 following his HIV diagnosis, the 64-year-old athlete amassed considerable wealth beyond the realm of sports.
Forbes reports that Johnson earned $40 million from his NBA career. Notably, he holds ownership stakes in three Los Angeles-based sports teams, including MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
Beyond sports, Johnson’s playing career only earned him around $40m before he retired in 1996, but since then, his diverse portfolio includes investments in Starbucks, Pepsi, Burger King, 24 Hour Fitness, and life insurance company EquiTrust.
Johnson reveals that he could have reached billionaire status sooner had he accepted shares in Nike during the 1970s when entering the NBA. Instead, he opted for a deal with Converse, offering him $100,000 a year.
Speaking on the All The Smoke podcast earlier this year, he said, “My family didn’t come from money, that’s one thing that hurt us sometimes. When you don’t come from money, you don’t know. I didn’t even know what stocks [were] at that time.
“So, I passed on the stocks. Can you imagine? 45 years, $5 billion that stock would have been worth today.”
