How Nike Has Played a Part in Michael Jordan Earning a Net Worth of $ 2.1 Billion?

Michael Jordan was the player who popularized the NBA across the world. He is, to date, one of the best-marketed athletes in the world. Valuing at $ 2.1 Billion (according to Forbes), Jordan is the richest athlete in the world. Yet, only twice in his career, was Jordan the highest-paid player in the NBA.

16 years after he retired from professional basketball, Jordan still has endorsement deals from major brands like Gatorade, Hanes, and Upper Deck, apart from, of course, Nike. He earned $90 million from his salary over his playing career in the NBA.

Although it has been years since Jordan retired, his net worth is still on the rise. His sneaker brand within Nike, Jordan Air, generates a significant chunk of revenue for Jordan. Adding to it, he has various investments which include Gigster, aXiomatic, Sportradar. Last year, he brought major stakes in NBA team Charlotte Hornets which is expected to give more profits in the coming years.

Nike made Michael Jordan & Michael Jordan made Nike

A huge factor in the making of Jordan- the brand was Nike. And to think, Nike was not the brand that Jordan wanted to sign initially. Currently, Nike has a major share in the NBA sneaker market. But it wasn’t the case in the 1980s. It was a time when stars like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, among others were using Converse shoes. Adidas was among the major competitors in the NBA sneaker market then and Reebok was also getting in. Hence, it wasn’t surprising that Nike wasn’t a straightforward

Jordan wore Converse while playing college basketball. He wanted to sign with Adidas when he came into the NBA in 1984. However, his agent persuaded him to hear a pitch from Nike. He eventually signed a five-year deal with a base pay of $500,000 per year. It was significantly more than any other sneaker deal.

The first Air Jordan sneaker came out in 1985 which hit $100 million in sales in its first year. With it grew Jordan’s earnings which kept growing. According to numbers from Forbes, Nike has paid $1.3 billion to Jordan since their first deal in 1984.

While Nike had a significant role in the making of Jordan’s billionaire status, it grew as a sneaker brand with Jordan, Nike has a major share in the current NBA sneaker market and Jordan certainly had a role to play in it.