Michael Jordan joins Forbes’ billionaires list
Michael Jordan, considered the best basketball player of all time, has just joined the billionaires’ club.
Jordan is one of the 290 newly-minted billionaires on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s richest people. He’s certainly one of the most recognizable names on the list — sorry, LeBron.
Jordan amassed his $1 billion fortune partly through his endorsement deal with Nike. The Jordan brand by Nike brought in an estimated $2.25 billion in 2013, which earned the 52 year-old athlete $90 million, according to Forbes.
But it was Jordan’s ownership of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team that catapulted him into the billionaire’s ranks this year. NBA teams soared in value after Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, paid $2 billion for the Los Angeles Clippers.
All told, the world’s 1,826 billionaires have a combined net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion in 2014.
Topping the list are the usual suspects: Microsoft’s Bill Gates ($79.2 billion); cellphone magnate Carlos Slim ($77.1 billion) and value investor Warren Buffett ($72.7 billion). All three saw their net worth increase last year.
Forbes billionaires with ties to sports:
- Michael Jordan — Charlotte Hornets
- Steve Ballmer — Los Angeles Clippers
- Stanley Kroenke — St. Louis Rams
- Robert Kraft — New Enlgand Patriots
- Jerry Jones — Dallas Cowboys
- Bernard Ecclestone — Formula One
- Mark Cuban — Dallas Mavericks
- Stephen Biscoiotti — Baltimore Ravens
- Arthur Blank — Atlanta Falcons
- Bob McNair — Houston Texans
- James France — NASCAR
- Tom Benson — New Orleans Saints, Pelicans
- James Irsay — Indianapolis Colts
- Daniel Snyder — Washington Redskins
- Leslie Alexander — Houston Rockets
- John Henry — Boston Red Sox, Liverpool
- Frank Fertitta — UFC
- Lorenzo Fertitta — UFC
- Jerry Reinsdorf — Chicago Bulls
- Alexander Spanos — San Diego Chargers
- Jeffrey Lurie — Philadelphia Eagles
