Basketball legend Michael Jordan has invested in Team Liquid, one of the earliest and popular esports ventures in the USA. The NBA legend is one of the two new investors who provided $26 million to, aXiomatic, which owns Team Liquid.
Team Liquid, which was aXiomatic in 2016, boasts of more than 60 competitive gamers based out of Los Angeles and the Netherlands.
“I’m excited to expand my sports equity portfolio through my investment in aXiomatic, esports is a fast-growing, international industry and I’m glad to partner with this great group of investors,” said Jordan, who joined his fellow Dream Team teammate Magic Johnson as an aXiomatic investor, as is Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards as well as the NHL’s Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
“The next generation of sports fans are esports fans,” Leonsis told ESPN in a statement. “Esports is the fastest-growing sector in sports and entertainment, and aXiomatic is at the forefront of that growth.”
Team Liquid’s parent company, aXiomatic, announced Thursday it raised $26 million in a Series C funding round. Two new investors join the ownership group: NBA legend and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan and David Rubenstein’s family office, Declaration Capital.
The rest of the fund is made up of capital from existing investors, as well as aXiomatic’s four co-executive chairmen—Golden State Warriors’ co-owner Peter Guber, Oaktree Capital Management cofounder Bruce Karsh, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.
David Rubenstein is the cofounder and executive co-chairman of private equity firm Carlyle Group. Rubenstein, whose has a net worth of $2.8 billion, is investing into aXiomatic through his family office, Declaration Capital.
“Probably no other franchise has the championship pedigree as we do with now Michael and with Magic,” says Ted Leonsis, whose own Washington Capitals earned its first Stanley Cup victory earlier this year. He notes he received a championship ring for both the Capitals’ victory, as well as Team Liquid’s Dota 2 championship at The International 2017, which netted the team $11 million in prize money.
ALSO,
Michael Jordan invests millions in Friends of the Children nonprofit to help break poverty cycle
A week after investing in Esports startup aXiomatic, Michael Jordan is making another sizable investment, this time in the nonprofit sector. The NBA legend announced on Thursday that he’s giving millions to “Friends of the Children.,” whose national mission is to “break the cycle of generational poverty.”
Jordan’s investment helped Friends of the Children reach its $25 million fundraising goal. The Portland Business Journal has a statement from Jordan himself about what drew him to the organization.
“What stood out to me about Friends of the Children was that they employ and train their mentors and that they commit to every child for 12-and-a-half years,” Jordan said, per The Journal. “That dedication is important to me. My mentors believed in me and taught me the power of perseverance. I want youth in Friends of the Children to see that they have that same potential.”
“There are so many communities across the country that we want to serve. With Michael’s investment, we can now expand more quickly to 25 cities,” said Terri Sorensen, Friends of the Children’s CEO, to The Journal.
MORE ON MICHAEL JORDAN,
Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials, MJ, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. His biography on the official NBA website states: “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. He is currently the principal owner and chairman of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels’ national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a league star and entertained crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames Air Jordan and His Airness. He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a “three-peat“. Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season, and started a new career in Minor League Baseball, he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in January 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Wizards.
Jordan’s individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), five MVP Awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press‘ list of athletes of the century. Jordan is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having been enshrined in 2009 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as part of the group induction of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team (“The Dream Team”). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jordan is also known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular today.[7] Jordan also starred as himself in the 1996 film Space Jam. In 2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats; he bought a controlling interest in 2010. In 2014, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history. He is the third-richest African-American, behind Robert F. Smith and Oprah Winfrey.
