Michael Jordan now worth $3 billion, among 400 richest Americans

Michael Jordan is widely regarded, though not without some debate, as the greatest NBA player of all time. He’s certainly one of the most iconic. Now, it’s clear that he’s also one of the richest, not just basketball players, but people in the world.

According to Forbes, Jordan has now surpassed the $3 billion net worth milestone. That would make him one of the 400 richest Americans.

This comes after Michael Jordan sold his stake in the Charlotte Hornets over the summer. With that, his net worth eclipsed $3 billion and made him the 379th richest American. That’s right in the range of Vince McMahon. Jordan is also the first athlete to make it on the Forbes 400.

So, where did all of Michael Jordan’s money come from and why has no athlete been able to earn a net worth like this before?

Part of what Michael Jordan was about to make, obviously, came through his NBA contracts. At the same time, the deals he was signing were nothing like a modern contract. According to Basketball Reference, the most Jordan made in a single season was $33 million. However, he only had career earnings of a little over $94 million, though Basketball Reference acknowledges that could be incomplete.

In many ways, what was unique to Jordan was his ability to brand himself. Companies like Gatorade have spent plenty to land endorsements from him. However, Jordan’s relationship with Nike to create Air Jordans is by far the branding that he’s best known for today.

Still, that investment in the Hornets was likely the best one he’s made in his life. Michael Jordan reportedly paid $275 million for the team in 2010 and sold it for $3 billion in 2023.

It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for Michael Jordan and if he’s interested in making any more major investments.

Scottie Pippen claims Michael Jordan was a ‘horrible player’

Scottie Pippen, a former teammate of Michael Jordan’s during their time as a dynasty with the Chicago Bulls, gave his thoughts on Jordan as a player recently. In doing so, he claimed LeBron James is the best all-time player and that Michael Jordan was horrible.

“LeBron will be the greatest statistical guy to ever play the game of basketball. There’s no comparison to him. None. So, does that make him the greatest player ever to play the game? I’ll leave that up for debating,” Pippen said.

“I’ve seen Michael Jordan before I came to play with the Bulls. You guys have seen him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one. He’s shooting bad shots. And all of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning. Everybody forgot who he was.”