“Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M., get the money, dollar dollar bill y’all.”
Move over Michael Jordan, and make some room for the newest basketball billionaire, Lebron James.
Even MJ was not making the moves off the court that LBJ is making now. It took Jordan until after his playing career was over to get the “billionaire” label.
With James finally changing that “M” into a “B,” he has become the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, according to Forbes.
He’s also coming for someone’s spot on the list of the richest Black people in the world and he’s not far off.
As an NBA player, the 18-time NBA all-star, 4-time NBA champion and 4-time MVP is doing things at the age of 37 that we have never seen before from an NBA player on and off the court. In 2021 alone, James’ earnings totaled $121.2 million, making him the second-highest paid athlete in the world behind fútbol superstar Lionel Messi, according to Forbes.
While James will have to watch the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics square off in the 2022 NBA Finals, there are other things he can celebrate.
James has always been open about how he wants to maximize his business and has never been shy about putting his business ventures out there.
In pretax earnings, James has made more than $1.2 billion in his professional career. He has earned more than $385 million in NBA salaries from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers and is currently the NBA’s highest-paid active player.
But, the real key to James’ fortune is not just his incredible play on the court or his ability as a pitchman off of it, he has been able to negotiate deals that give him equity in the brands and companies he is partnering with.
Some of the companies include pizza chain Blaze Pizza, home gym company Tonal and rideshare giant Lyft.
But Lebron has also created his own business ventures including SpringHill Company, an entertainment and production company he developed with his longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter. James is the biggest shareholder of that company, according to Forbes.
But if you want to get into the breakdown of Lebron’s billionaire status, he has earned $300 million from the SpringHill Company. He has also earned nearly $90 million from the Fenway Sports Group, in which he owns about 1% of the group.
The sports group owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park and Liverpool F.C. (whom Lebron tweets about a lot). The group also owns half of Roush Fenway Racing, 80% of New England Sports and recently received controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins, an NHL team.
Lebron has always loved all sports.
He also earned $80 million from the three properties he owns in Ohio, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. His pizza investment in the fast-food chain Blaze Pizza has earned him $30 million.
But the biggest payout, by far, has been from his cash and other investments which has earned him more than $500 million. This includes his payout from his investment in Beats by Dre in 2014, and his shares in fitness company Beachbody, which acquired his sports nutrition company Ladder in 2020, according to Forbes.
Yeah that man Bron is getting the bag in basically every way possible, and it has paid off, literally.