Born on August 14, 1959, in Lansing, Michigan, Earvin Johnson Jr. is NBA royalty who led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships. Popularly known as ‘Magic’ Johnson, the NBA Hall of Famer did justice to his nickname as his accolades speak for themselves. With 3 NBA’s Most Valuable Player awards, 3 NBA finals Most Valuable Player award and 5 NBA championships, he truly was one of the most gifted and ‘magical’ basketball players that the NBA has ever seen.

In a recent interview, the former NBA star says he would be open to buying into a multi-billion-dollar league. Johnson said, “I would look at it, for sure. Listen, breaking these barriers, just going through these doors, is important to me. As a proud Black man — you’ve got me choking up now.”

Magic has ownership in multiple professional sports leagues

After Michael Jordan‘s recent Charlotte Hornets ‘failure’, Magic Johnson looks to add to his list of sports teams that he owns. Despite being rivals on the basketball court, the two NBA legends remain good friends off the court. However, Magic’s business acumen is extremely impressive as the NBA legend has successfully managed to convert $40 million of his career earnings into a billion-dollar business empire.

Magic happens to be a member of Guggenheim Baseball Management which owns MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers. He is additionally part of groups that own the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, MLS’ Los Angeles FC, and NFL’s Washington Commanders. Johnson has won 14 total championships during his career, six as a player and eight as an owner.

As the NBA legends straps in for another big business venture, he says on NBC’s TODAY with Craig Melvin, “This is a great opportunity. I don’t know why God blessed me with these opportunities, but I’m going to excel, not only for myself, but my family, but for all African Americans, making sure we can see (ourselves) in these seats. And I want people to know that we can do the job.”

A peak into Magic Johnson’s billion-dollar business empire

‘Magic’ earned around $40 million in salaries in his entire NBA career (1979-1996) and a $100,000 from his shoe deal with Converse through each of those years. However, the NBA legend made a grave error in the beginning of his career in choosing Converse over Nike.

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Nike was offering him $1 for every pair of Nike shoes sold, and 100,000 shares of Nike stock. At the time, Nike stock was worth $0.18 cents a share, meaning Johnson would have had about $18,000 in stock which is a staggering $5.2 billion in today’s market.

Despite missing out on the billionaire train earlier on in his business career, the Lakers legend has still managed to build a billion-dollar business empire of his own. A crucial part of his business empire is the ‘Magic Johnson Enterprises’.

This includes a T.G.I. Friday in Los Angeles, thirty-one ‘Burger King’ joints, twelve 24-hour-fitness centers, a number of movie theatres and malls, and a staggering 100 ‘Starbucks’ locations among other businesses across the country.

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Magic Johnson’s current net worth stands at a whopping $620,000,000 as he looks to soon make it into the billionaire’s list through his multiple business ventures. What do you think about Magic’s career on and off the court? Let us know in the comments below!