Where Michael Jordan is looking for next big win in business
Investor Michael Jordan joins Sportradar founder and CEO Carsten Koerl for remarks before ringing the Nasdaq opening bell in celebration of the launch of the company’s IPO on Sept. 14 in New York City.
@Jumpman23
One of the all-time greats in the world of sports is looking for his next big win in business, raising his stake in a sports technology and data company that recently made its debut on the stock market. A press release from Sportradar (Nasdaq: SRAD) says Michael Jordan is increasing his investment and taking on a new role as special adviser to the company’s board of directors.
Jordan, majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, first invested in Sportradar in 2015, when he and fellow NBA team owner Mark Cuban participated in a $44 million funding round for the Switzerland-based company, according to a TechCrunch report at the time. Cuban, a prolific investor perhaps best known for his role on reality TV’s “Shark Tank” and his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, told the news outlet he believes that Sportradar is positioned to be a major player in sports data.
“I invested in Sportradar years ago because I believed in the vision and passion that (CEO Carsten Koerl) and the rest of the team had for transforming the sports technology industry,” Jordan says in the release distributed yesterday afternoon. “I am looking forward to having a formal role with the company as it begins its next chapter.”
Sportradar didn’t disclose the size of Jordan’s investment. In the advisory role, he will focus on the U.S. market, product development, marketing and other business initiatives. Established in 2001, the company provides products and services related to sports betting and entertainment, according to its release. It counts major sports leagues and media organizations among its partners and customers.
Jordan was on hand for Sportradar’s trading debut last week, joining Koerl to ring the NASDAQ opening bell. A Bloomberg report following the initial public offering pegged the company’s value around $7.4 billion. Its shares were trading around $26.25 as of 10:50 a.m. today — down about 2.8 percent from its IPO price of $27 per share but up 7.2 percent from its closing price of $25.05 on that first day on the market.
Reuters notes Jordan is also an investor and adviser for DraftKings, a player in the fantasy sports and betting arena. Aside from the Hornets, his other business investments include, of course, his namesake Jordan Brand sneakers and apparel as well as partial ownership of a newly launched NASCAR team called 23XI Racing.
Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban Made an Investment in 2015 That Is Paying Nearly $8 Billion in Dividends
Charlotte Hornets governor Michael Jordan and Dallas Mavericks governor Mark Cuban both invested in a nascent sports company called Sportradar all the way back in 2015. Six years later, that investment could pay big dividends.
Sportradar has generated ample revenue in the past several years and just launched an IPO on Tuesday. Early valuations suggest Jordan and Cuban stand to make some money, especially given Sportradar’s prevalence in sports betting.
Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban were part of a group that invested $44 million in Sportradar back in 2015
Mark Cuban made his money as a tech-savvy businessman. It’s no surprise he saw an opportunity with Sportradar. But Michael Jordan has also gone to great lengths to diversify his portfolio.
The Hornets governor has invested in several different companies, including other tech brands such as Gigster. He’s become even savvier in spreading his wealth across different industries. One might expect Michael Jordan to expand beyond shoes, given Jordan Brand continues to churn out revenue like clockwork.
In any event, MJ joined Cuban in a $44 million funding round for Sportradar back in 2015. At the time, the company had already agreed to partnerships with the NFL and NHL, and its data information loomed especially large in fantasy sports.
“Sportradar is well-positioned to be a global force in the sports data business,” Mark Cuban told TechCrunch at the time. “Their data scientists are amazing.”
The investment has seemingly aged better and better over time. Sportradar was valued at close to $3 billion last spring, and the rise in sports betting has only heightened the company’s valuation.
Indeed, Sportradar launched an IPO on Tuesday. Jordan himself was even in attendance.
Sportradar opened its IPO at an $8 billion valuation and closed at a $7.4 billion valuation
Michael Jordan made the trek to Wall Street on Tuesday as Sportradar prepared to launch its IPO.
Jordan rang the Opening Bell after the company made its listings on the NASDAQ, with shares selling anywhere between $25 and $28. Sportradar raised $513 million at the close of business on Tuesday, dropping its valuation from $8 billion to $7.4 billion.
The drop in valuation might seem discouraging. However, Sportradar experienced tremendous year-over-year growth.
According to Bloomberg, Sportradar reported $322 million in revenue during the first sixth months of 2021, up from around $226.7 million during the same period last year. The company lost a bit of profit, but that might not come as a surprise considering the cost of business and spending more to account for potential losses during the pandemic.
Perhaps the IPO will help galvanize the company. Bloomberg also reported that a $159 million “private placement” was set to occur with the IPO.
Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban stand to make some money
It’s unknown just how much Jordan and Cuban invested in the initial funding round and how much each might have invested in Sportradar since. The company’s IPO is also worth tracking for the remainder of the week.
Regardless, MJ and Cuban will likely make some money.
Sportradar has experienced tremendous year-over-year growth. The company has partnerships with just about every North American sports league and has a lot to offer betting platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel, and others.
Both Cuban and Jordan understand not all investments are winners. But the investment both made back in 2015 should pay some dividends in 2021.
Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban invest in parent of Minneapolis-based Sportradar
Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan is one of the new investors in Sportradar, which has its U.S. offices in Minneapolis.
Several professional sports team owners, including basketball great Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban, are investing in Sportradar so that the Swiss company can expand in the United States.
Sportradar’s U.S. headquarters are in Minneapolis, where people work day and night logging all kinds of sporting events so fans can get instant updates on their smartphones and computers. The U.S. business was launched in 2010 by Rob Phythian and Dave Abbott as SportsData; they sold it to Sportradar in 2013 and the company has been growing quickly since, landing exclusive partnerships with the NFL, NHL and NASCAR.
Sportradar doesn’t have that kind of deal with the NBA, but the new investors include some of the biggest names in the league: Jordan, the former Chicago Bulls star, now owns the Charlotte Hornets, while Cuban owns the Dallas Mavericks. Also making investments are Ted Leonsis — who owns the NHL, NBA and WNBA teams in Washington, D.C. — and Evan Morgan of private equity firm Revolution Growth.
The new investors are collectively investing about $45 million and will join the Sportradar US advisory board. It’s not yet been decided where that board will meet.
“We look forward to partnering with the Revolution Growth team, and some of the best and brightest minds in technology and sports as we look to diversify and expand our product offerings,” Carsten Koerl, founder and CEO of Sportradar, said in a news release.
Leonsis told Bloomberg that the investment is a bet on the likelihood that sports betting becomes legal in the U.S., since bookmakers are some of the company’s top clients in Europe, where sports betting is already legal.
The Data Company That Just Landed Mark Cuban and Michael Jordan as Investors
The Dallas Mavericks owner is joining the basketball legend to acquire a minority stake in Sportradar.
Mark Cuban and Michael Jordan may own competing NBA franchises, but when it comes to sports data, they’re on the same team.
Cuban and Jordan have joined venture firm Revolution Growth to acquire a minority stake in sports-data technology company Sportradar. Revolution declined to disclose the size of the investment, but a source familiar with the situation said the funding round was roughly $45 million.
Founded in 2001, Sportradar provides information and data on 48 different sports to companies such as Google, Turner Media, and Yahoo Sports, the dominant player in the fantasy sports industry with nearly 20 percent market share. Switzerland-headquartered Sportradar began by offering data and fraud detection services to sports teams and leagues in Europe before switching its focus to real-time sports data and statistics.
The company makes money by licensing its data to businesses in the gaming industry and other sports-related companies, which then provide the data to consumers. “People are just insatiable for the kind of data and information that they want to track, either for their own enjoyment or because they play fantasy games,” says Ted Leonsis, co-founder of Revolution Growth. Cuban, Jordan, and Leonsis are all joining Sportradar’s U.S. advisory board. Cuban did not respond to a request for comment.
Private equity firm EQT invested around $50 million in Sportradar in 2012 when the company was valued at roughly $140 million. In 2013, Sportradar began licensing its data to businesses in the U.S. The company generated about $100 million in annual revenue in 2014, according to data from EQT.
During the past nine months, Sportradar has made exclusive agreements with the NFL, NHL, International Tennis Federation, and NASCAR. The company will use the funding round led by Revolution primarily to help create new data products for businesses in the fantasy sports, gaming, social-media, and technology sectors.
While gambling on sports continues to be illegal in most U.S. states, Leonsis says Sportradar’s data is sought by enough non-gambling companies to create a significant market opportunity in the U.S.
“The licensing of data to consumers and to media companies–that’s going to happen whether there’s legalized gaming or not,” he says, adding that it’s widely expected that the U.S. will allow some form of legal gambling on sports in the near future.
Sportradar has more than 1,000 total employees in offices in Switzerland, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and New York. The most compelling statistic related to the company, however, pertains to the growing popularity of fantasy sports, according to Leonsis.
“There are 60 million people playing some kind of daily fantasy,” he says. “Five years ago, there were none.”
Michael Jordan Net worth (Updated 2021)
| Name | Michael Jordan |
| Net Worth | Approx 2.2 Billion Dollars |
| Age | 57 Years |
| Residence | 2700 Point Drive, Highland Park, IL |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Yvette Prieto |
| Source of Wealth | Former NBA player, Charlotte Hornets team owner |
| Salary | Approx $130 Million |
| Endorsement | Nike, Hanes, Gatorade and Upper deck |
| Endorsement Earnings | 130 Million dollars |
| Philanthropy | 30 million dollars donated to activists projects |
Widely considered as the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan was the pioneer that led NBA basketball to a global stage. His relentless pursuit of greatness inspired a generation of players, destroyed the hopes of anybody that played against him and won him 6 rings. The way he carried himself and the way he was perceived on and off-court put him in such rare air that it is still considered sacred.
How much is Michael Jordan’s net worth in 2021?
As of March 2021, according to Forbes, Michael Jordan’s net worth is estimated to be $2.2 billion. Michael Jordan has earned his money over the years not only through his massive Jordan Brand salary but also some massive endorsement deals from almost every major company in the United States and several profitable investment ventures.
Apart from dominating in the NBA, he is also a shrewd investor. Through his investments and proper money management, he has become one of the wealthiest athletes on the planet having a net worth of approximately 2.1 billion dollars. He is also the owner of Charlotte Hornets and owns a major portion of his personal brand under Nike, the Jordan Brand. He has probably the most popular sneaker line in the world, which currently has young stars like Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson under its umbrella.
After Star Footballer Messi signed for the French Club Paris Saint German in 2021, Michael Jordan apparently earned $ 6 million dollars due to the shirt sales. One important thing to note is that Paris Saint German football kits are made by the Jordan Brand.
Michael Jordan’s Endorsement Earnings
Michael Jordan earned a majority of his current wealth from endorsements. In over four decades, he’s earned $1.7 billion (pre-tax) off the court from brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Wheaties, Chevrolet, etc, and is still involved with brands such as Nike, Hanes, Gatorade, and Upper Deck.
Nike
Nike has always been Jordan’s biggest source of income. His first-ever five-year Nike deal signed in 1984 was worth $500,000 annually (about $1.2 million in today’s dollars), plus royalties. His take last year (included within the tally above) was $130 million by Forbes’ count, fourfold as much as that of LeBron James, who has the NBA’s second-biggest shoe deal.
Nike released the Air Jordan XXXIV basketball shoe in September, and current NBA players Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum, and Rui Hachimura wear it on the court. Nike’s share of the U.S. basketball performance shoe market—which includes the Jordan Brand was 86% in 2019, according to market research firm NPD. It has a 96% share of the broader lifestyle basketball category.
Charlotte Hornets
He took majority control of the team in 2010 during a deal valued at $175 million that was largely funded with debt. He eventually raised his stake to 90%. He invested at the perfect time and was just in time for an explosion in team values triggered by three major events: a replacement collective bargaining agreement that cut players’ share of revenue to 50% in 2011, from 57%; the Ballmer bump, which came after former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer paid $2 billion in 2014 for the LA Clippers, quite 3 times the previous record NBA price; and a replacement NBA TV affect ESPN and TNT that tripled the worth of the previous pact.
Michael Jordan’s Investments
Michael Jordan has been a shrewd investor and he’s individually participated in funding rounds for Sportradar, a Switzerland-based sports data provider; headphone brand Muzik; Gigster, a San Francisco-based marketplace for freelance tech talent; and aXiomatic. Jordan joined fellow NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson in 2018 as an investor in aXiomatic, which is the parent company of esports squad Team Liquid, recently valued at $320 million.
Jordan joined three other fellow NBA owners—the LA Lakers’ Jeanie Buss, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Wes Edens and therefore the Boston Celtics’ Wyc Grousbeck—launched a super-premium tequila brand, Cincoro, last year. The most expensive bottle within the line, Extra Añejeo, retails for $1,600.(Source: Forbes)
Michael Jordan’s Charity Work
Michael Jordan has been a major contributor to many charitable organizations. Proceeds from “The last dance” Netflix’s recent documentary featuring Jordan’s last championship run with the Bulls will all go to charity, including the Friends of the Children nonprofit in support of the group’s national expansion and add Charlotte and Chicago, also as other as-yet identified beneficiaries.
Jordan graciously joined most other NBA owners with a pledge to pay arena workers for missed games during the coronavirus stoppage, and the club has donated to relief efforts within the Carolinas. In recent years, he wrote seven-figure checks to help out with hurricane relief efforts in both the Bahamas and therefore the Carolinas, and he has been involved in the Make-A-Wish foundation for 3 decades as a donor and grantor of hundreds of wishes.
Michael Jordan’s other sources of Income
Michael Jordan knows the value of having multiple sources of income. Apart from his major investments in Hornets and the Jordan Brand, MJ joined the investor group that bought MLB’s Miami Marlins for $1.2 billion in 2017. Derek Jeter, a longtime Jordan pal, is the club’s CEO and owns 4% of the team while Jordan owns 1%.
Jordan also owns a car dealership and maybe a partner in Cornerstone Restaurant Group, which runs five Jordan-branded restaurants.
Michael Jordan’s Houses
Michael Jordan owns 5 houses across America. He owns two homes in North Carolina where the NBA team he owns, the Charlotte Hornets, is based, and one in Jupiter, Florida. The other two are currently purchasable in Illinois and Utah.
In Illinois, Jordan features a property within the Highland Park suburb of Chicago. The massive housing space is about 32,000 square feet, but with outdoor spaces that include a pool and a court, the whole property covers a whopping 56,000 square feet. The house is currently selling for $14.8 million. It has 9 bedrooms and 19 bathrooms. The house has been on the market since 2012.
Jordan is also an owner of a house in Jupiter, Florida, on a golf course for $4.8 million in 2013, and spent $7.6 million renovating it. The Chicago Bulls legend used to spend a lot of time there, as reported by Yahoo Sports from May 2020.
Michael Jordan has a lakefront home in Cornelius, North Carolina that he bought for $2.8 million in 2013. The house has six bedrooms and is on the Peninsula golf course, a luxury country club. It’s 22 miles from where the Hornets play.
Jordan has another North Carolina property in Charlotte. The whole 7th floor of the luxurious Trust Condos at about 7,000 square-feet.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and businessman. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” He was integral in helping to popularize the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process.
Jordan played college basketball for three seasons under coach Dean Smith with the North Carolina Tar Heels. 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, and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the game’s best defensive players. 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”. Jordan won his first NBA championship with the Bulls in 1991, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a “three-peat“. Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball but returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. He retired for the second time in January 1999 but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington 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 (joint record), 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 career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the 20th century’s greatest North American athlete by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press‘ list of athletes of the century. Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his individual career and again in 2010 as part 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.
One of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation, 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. Jordan also starred as himself in the 1996 live-action animated film Space Jam, and is the central focus of the Emmy Award-winning documentary miniseries The Last Dance (2020). He became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats (now named the Hornets) in 2006, and bought a controlling interest in 2010. In 2014, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history. With a net worth of $1.6 billion.
Awards and honors
- NBA
- Six-time NBA champion – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
- Six-time NBA Finals MVP – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
- Five-time NBA MVP – 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998[5]
- NBA Defensive Player of the Year – 1987–88[238]
- NBA Rookie of the Year – 1984–85
- 10-time NBA scoring leader – 1987–1993, 1996–1998
- Three-time NBA steals leader – 1988, 1990, 1993
- 14-time NBA All-Star – 1985–1993, 1996–1998, 2002, 2003
- Three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP – 1988, 1996, 1998
- 10-time All-NBA First Team – 1987–1993, 1996–1998
- One-time All-NBA Second Team – 1985
- Nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team – 1988–1993, 1996–1998
- Two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion – 1987, 1988
- Two-time IBM Award winner – 1985, 1989
- Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996
- No. 23 retired by the Chicago Bulls
- No. 23 retired by the Miami Heat
- USA Basketball
- Two-time Olympic gold medal winner – 1984, 1992
- Tournament of the Americas gold medal winner – 1992
- Pan American Games gold medal winner – 1983
- NCAA
- NCAA national championship – 1981–82
- ACC Freshman of the Year – 1981–82
- Two-time Consensus NCAA All-American First Team – 1982–83, 1983–84
- ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year – 1983–84
- USBWA College Player of the Year – 1983–84
- Naismith College Player of the Year – 1983–84
- Adolph Rupp Trophy – 1983–84
- John R. Wooden Award – 1983–84
- No. 23 retired by the North Carolina Tar Heels
- Halls of Fame
- Two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee:
- Class of 2009 – individual
- Class of 2010 – as a member of the “Dream Team”
- United States Olympic Hall of Fame – Class of 2009 (as a member of the “Dream Team”)
- North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame – Class of 2010
- Two-time FIBA Hall of Fame inductee:
- Class of 2015 – individual
- Class of 2017 – as a member of the “Dream Team”
- Media
- Three-time Associated Press Athlete of the Year – 1991, 1992, 1993
- Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year – 1991
- Ranked No. 1 by Slam magazine’s “Top 50 Players of All-Time”
- Ranked No. 1 by ESPN SportsCentury‘s “Top North American Athletes of the 20th Century”
- 10-time ESPY Award winner (in various categories)
- 1997 Marca Leyenda winner
- National
- State/local
- Statue inside the United Center
- Section of Madison Street in Chicago renamed Michael Jordan Drive – 1994
Post-retirement
After his third retirement, Jordan assumed that he would be able to return to his front office position as Director of Basketball Operations with the Wizards. However, his previous tenure in the Wizards’ front office had produced mixed results and may have also influenced the trade of Richard “Rip” Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse, although Jordan was not technically Director of Basketball Operations in 2002. On May 7, 2003, Wizards owner Abe Pollin fired Jordan as the team’s president of basketball operations. Jordan later stated that he felt betrayed, and that if he had known he would be fired upon retiring, he never would have come back to play for the Wizards.
Jordan kept busy over the next few years. He stayed in shape, played golf in celebrity charity tournaments, and spent time with his family in Chicago. He also promoted his Jordan Brand clothing line and rode motorcycles. Since 2004, Jordan has owned Michael Jordan Motorsports, a professional closed-course motorcycle road racing team that competed with two Suzukis in the premier Superbike championship sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) until the end of the 2013 season.
Charlotte Bobcats / Hornets
On June 15, 2006, Jordan bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Hornets), becoming the team’s second-largest shareholder behind majority owner Robert L. Johnson. As part of the deal, Jordan took full control over the basketball side of the operation, with the title Managing Member of Basketball Operations. Despite Jordan’s previous success as an endorser, he has made an effort not to be included in Charlotte’s marketing campaigns. A decade earlier, Jordan had made a bid to become part-owner of Charlotte’s original NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, but talks collapsed when owner George Shinn refused to give Jordan complete control of basketball operations.
In February 2010, it was reported that Jordan was seeking majority ownership of the Bobcats. As February wore on, it became apparent that Jordan and former Houston Rockets president George Postolos were the leading contenders for ownership of the team. On February 27, the Bobcats announced that Johnson had reached an agreement with Jordan and his group, MJ Basketball Holdings, to buy the team from Johnson pending NBA approval. On March 17, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan’s purchase, making him the first former player to become the majority owner of an NBA team. It also made him the league’s only African-American majority owner.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, The New York Times wrote that Jordan led a group of 10 to 14 hardline owners who wanted to cap the players’ share of basketball-related income at 50 percent and as low as 47. Journalists observed that, during the labor dispute in 1998, Jordan had told Washington Wizards then-owner Abe Pollin: “If you can’t make a profit, you should sell your team.” Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com called Jordan a “sellout” for wanting “current players to pay for his incompetence.” He cited Jordan’s executive decisions to draft disappointing players Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison.
During the 2011–12 NBA season that was shortened to 66 games by the lockout, the Bobcats posted a 7–59 record. The team closed out the season with a 23-game losing streak; their .106 winning percentage was the worst in NBA history. Before the next season, Jordan said: “I’m not real happy about the record book scenario last year. It’s very, very frustrating.”
During the 2019 NBA offseason, Jordan sold a minority piece of the Hornets to Gabe Plotkin and Daniel Sundheim, retaining the majority of the team for himself as well as the role of chairman.
23XI Racing
On September 21, 2020, Jordan and NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin announced they would be fielding a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace driving, beginning competition in the 2021 season. On October 22, the team’s name was confirmed to be 23XI Racing (pronounced twenty-three eleven) and the team’s entry would bear No. 23.
Personal life
Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan Jr., one older sister, Deloris, and one younger sister, Roslyn. James retired in 2006 as the Command Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S. Army. Jordan’s nephew through Larry, Justin Jordan, played Division I basketball at UNC Greensboro and is a scout for the Charlotte Hornets.[281][282]
Jordan married Juanita Vanoy in September 1989. They had two sons, Jeffrey and Marcus, and a daughter, Jasmine. The Jordans filed for divorce on January 4, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences, but reconciled shortly thereafter. They again filed for divorce and were granted a final decree of dissolution of marriage on December 29, 2006, commenting that the decision was made “mutually and amicably”. It is reported that Juanita received a $168 million settlement (equivalent to $216 million in 2020), making it the largest celebrity divorce settlement on public record at the time.
Jordan proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto, on Christmas 2011, and they were married on April 27, 2013, at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. It was announced on November 30, 2013, that the two were expecting their first child together. On February 11, 2014, Prieto gave birth to identical twin daughters named Victoria and Ysabel. In 2019, Jordan became a grandfather when his daughter Jasmine gave birth to a son, whose father is professional basketball player Rakeem Christmas.
Media figure and business interests
Endorsements
.jpg)
Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald’s, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the “Be Like Mike” commercials in which a song was sung by children wishing to be like Jordan.
Nike created a signature shoe for Jordan, called the Air Jordan, in 1984. One of Jordan’s more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials, Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan’s abilities and became convinced that “it’s gotta be the shoes”. The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spate of “shoe-jackings” where people were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. Subsequently, Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own division named the “Jordan Brand”. The company features an impressive list of athletes and celebrities as endorsers. The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, California, Georgetown, and Marquette.
Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters. A Nike commercial shown during 1992’s Super Bowl XXVI featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated film Space Jam, which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during the former’s first retirement from basketball. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI. Jordan also made an appearance in the music video for Michael Jackson‘s “Jam” (1992).
Jordan’s yearly income from the endorsements is estimated to be over $40 million. In addition, when Jordan’s power at the ticket gates was at its highest point, the Bulls regularly sold out both their home and road games. Due to this, Jordan set records in player salary by signing annual contracts worth in excess of US$30 million per season. An academic study found that Jordan’s first NBA comeback resulted in an increase in the market capitalization of his client firms of more than $1 billion.
Most of Jordan’s endorsement deals, including his first deal with Nike, were engineered by his agent, David Falk. Jordan has described Falk as “the best at what he does” and that “marketing-wise, he’s great. He’s the one who came up with the concept of ‘Air Jordan.'”
Business ventures
In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 20th-most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Jordan Brand generates $1 billion in sales for Nike. In June 2014, Jordan was named the first NBA player to become a billionaire, after he increased his stake in the Charlotte Hornets from 80% to 89.5%. On January 20, 2015, Jordan was honored with the Charlotte Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year for 2014. In 2017, he became a part owner of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.
Forbes designated Jordan as the athlete with the highest career earnings in 2017. From his Jordan Brand income and endorsements, Jordan’s 2015 income was an estimated $110 million, the most of any retired athlete. As of 2021, his net worth is estimated at $1.6 billion by Forbes, making him the fifth-richest African-American.
Jordan co-owns an automotive group which bears his name. The company has a Nissan dealership in Durham, North Carolina, acquired in 1990, and formerly had a Lincoln–Mercury dealership from 1995 until its closure in June 2009. The company also owned a Nissan franchise in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The restaurant industry is another business interest of Jordan’s. Restaurants he has owned include a steakhouse in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, among others; that restaurant closed in 2018. Jordan is the majority investor in a golf course, Grove XXIII, under construction in Hobe Sound, Florida.
In September 2020, Jordan became an investor and advisor for DraftKings.
Philanthropy
From 2001 to 2014, Jordan hosted an annual golf tournament, the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, that raised money for various charities. In 2006, Jordan and his wife Juanita pledged $5 million to Chicago’s Hales Franciscan High School. The Jordan Brand has made donations to Habitat for Humanity and a Louisiana branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation named Jordan its Chief Wish Ambassador in 2008. In 2013, he granted his 200th wish for the organization. As of 2019, he has raised more than $5 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
In 2015, Jordan donated a settlement of undisclosed size from a lawsuit against supermarkets that had used his name without permission to 23 different Chicago charities. In 2017, Jordan funded two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics in Charlotte, North Carolina, by giving $7 million, the biggest donation he had made at the time. In 2018, after Hurricane Florence damaged parts of North Carolina, including his former hometown of Wilmington, Jordan donated $2 million to relief efforts. He gave $1 million to aid the Bahamas’ recovery following Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
On June 5, 2020, in the wake of the protests following the murder of George Floyd, Jordan and his brand announced in a joint statement that they would be donating $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to “ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education.”
In February 2021, Jordan funded two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics in New Hanover County, North Carolina, by giving $10 million.
Film and television
Jordan played himself in the 1996 comedy film Space Jam. The film received mixed reviews, but it was a box office success, making $230 million worldwide, and earned more than $1 billion through merchandise sales.
In 2000, Jordan was the subject of an IMAX documentary about his career with the Chicago Bulls, especially the 1998 championship season, entitled Michael Jordan to the Max. Two decades later, the same period of Jordan’s life was covered in much greater and more personal detail by the Emmy Award-winning The Last Dance, a 10-part TV documentary which debuted on ESPN in April and May 2020. The Last Dance relied heavily on about 500 hours of candid film of Jordan’s and his teammates’ off-court activities which an NBA Entertainment crew had shot over the course of the 1997–98 NBA season for use in a documentary. The project was delayed for many years because Jordan had not yet given his permission for the footage to be used. He was interviewed at three homes associated with the production and did not want cameras in his home or on his plane as “there are certain aspects of his life that he wants to keep private”, according to director Jason Hehir. Jordan granted rapper Travis Scott permission to film a music video for his single “Franchise” at his home in Highland Park, Illinois, “without hesitation.”
Books
Jordan has authored several books focusing on his life, basketball career, and world view.
- Rare Air: Michael on Michael, with Mark Vancil and Walter Iooss (Harper San Francisco, 1993).
- I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence, with Mark Vancil and Sandro Miller (Harper San Francisco, 1994).
- For the Love of the Game: My Story, with Mark Vancil (Crown Publishers, 1998).
- Driven from Within, with Mark Vancil (Atria Books, 2005).
