LEBRON James, the 4-time NBA Champion and 4-time league MVP, has become just the second athlete to be worth US$1 billion.
James, 37, follows fellow NBA great Michael Jordan in terms of being valued at 10 figures, according to Forbes, although James has done it while still an active player.
Jordan, 59, was not valued at US$1 billion until 2014, 11 years after he’d retired and right after he became an investor in the league’s Charlotte Hornets.
For LeBron, his billionaire status – something he’d told GQ was ‘my biggest milestone’ in 2014 – comes largely from his investments.
The man considered the greatest player of his era owns pieces of a production company, franchises across three different sports, pizza chains, headphones and several other products.
James made a little over US$41 million for the 2021-22 season, making him only the sixth-highest paid player in the NBA, with Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry topping the chart at over US$45 million, according to ESPN.
In fact, James is only the second-highest compensated athlete in the world between salary and endorsements with US$121,2 million, beaten out by PSG and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, who raked in US$130 million.
However, the investment game is where LeBron has made enough money to dwarf the likes of Tiger Woods, Messi, Magic Johnson and Floyd Mayweather.
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James’ total earnings from his nearly two-decade basketball career has netted him about US$1,2 billion in pretax earnings, US$385 million of it from his playing salary.
While he has earned hundreds of millions for endorsements, a mid-career pivot to force sponsors to provide him equity has allowed his wealth to explode.
James has stakes in Blaze Pizza, Beats By Dre and publicly traded fitness company Beachbody.
Perhaps his biggest score is Spring Hill Company with longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter, which helped bring the reboot of Space Jam to the big screen and has a half dozen further projects on the docket for 2022 and 2023.
James is also a partner with Fenway Sports Group – who coincidentally invested in Spring Hill last October – which gives the basketball icon an ownership stakes in MLB’s Boston Red Sox (as well as their iconic Fenway Park), the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and Champions League runners up Liverpool FC
The mogul also owns three properties worth about US$80 million, including mansions in his native Akron and two estates in Southern California, including a Beverly Hills mansion he paid over US$36 million for in 2020
Last October, outside investors bought into the company at a valuation of US$750 million.
LeBron – who used the company to roll all of his projects under one roof – is Spring Hill’s largest single shareholder, though his stake is believed not to exceed 50%.
”Obviously. I want to maximise my business,“ James said in that 2014 interview in GQ where he dreamed of being a billionaire. ”And if I happen to get it, if I happen to be a billion-dollar athlete, ho. Hip hip hooray! Oh, my God, I’m gonna be excited.“ – Daily Mail Sport
