NBA legend Magic Johnson missed a massive opportunity to sign with Nike during his rookie year. This could have helped him bag around $5 billion. Furthermore, his basketball career was cut short at his prime because of the HIV infection. When Johnson finally called it quits in 1996, he had earned just $40 million from his NBA career. However, the Los Angeles Lakers legend worked his way up the business world and now has an estimated net worth of $620 million. The five-time NBA champion once revealed an important secret to his success.

In today’s age, $40 million is not considered huge. With the NBA’s massive TV deal and other contracts with major brands, players are reaping the fruits and earning more than ever before. However, that wasn’t the case during Magic’s time.

Magic Johnson disclosed his secret to success

Magic Johnson could have rested on his laurels after his impressive NBA career. Even though $40 million was not massive, he could have easily lived off it comfortably. However, he chose not to and dived into the world of business. But Johnson initially had little knowledge about it.

So he sought the help of popular entrepreneurs like Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, Interim CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz, and Creative Artists Agency’s co-founder Michael Ovitz. With the information he gathered from them, Magic started investing his hard-earned money.

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Slowly, but steadily, he understood the market and made some smart investments. Soon, the Hall of Famer built a massive business empire.

Today, he owns stakes in multiple professional sports franchises, including 3 Los Angeles-based teams, and the recently acquired Washington Commanders. The successful entrepreneur shared his secret to brand success during a show last year.

In the YouTube short uploaded by Roland Frasier, Johnson revealed it. He said, “We gotta over-deliver. Especially if you think about your clients, your customers. Because the marketplace is saturated now. And so you gotta make sure you over-deliver so you can get the retention that you’re looking for. The reason my businesses have been successful is because we over-deliver in the inner cities to our customers.”

Notably, the 12-time NBA All-Star had massive success investing in Starbucks, movie theaters, and malls in urban areas.

Magic Johnson’s investments in theaters

Magic Johnson once disclosed his reason behind investing in movie theaters.

He stated that he understood the trend of Black families going to the movies but realized there were not enough theaters. So he began his investment which helped him add more to his wealth.

Interestingly, fellow Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal also saw a cultural trend once. Except his caused him to lose out on billions! Big Diesel had the chance to join Magic as a part-owner of Starbucks. But the 4-time champ turned it down due to his belief that “Black people don’t drink coffee.”

He explained he thought so “because I never seen anyone in my family drink coffee.”

Funny as that may be, both LA legends are now multi-millionaires with a vast portfolio of investments and ventures.

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