Once again we have him in the news, this time he’s not dunking on the court but he sure has dunked a beautiful one on the money court and it stirred an ovation so loud that Forbes couldn’t help but notice and join in.
Yes, Lebron James has officially been confirmed a billionaire according to Forbes.
The NBA star is the only active NBA player to become a billionaire, yes we’re talking about three comas and 9 zeros in front of the 1.
Although he will be missing the play offs for the 4th time in 19 seasons the king is still in the news for something big and he’s killing it.
This is another milestone for James after a year of massive earnings which totalled a whooping sum of $121.2 billion as estimated by Forbes.
Currently the 37 year old Ohio born star who moved a dozen times in 3 years before becoming the most sought after and hyped young basketballer of all time has a total of $1 billion according to Forbes count.
The only other NBA star to achieve this feat is Michael Jordan who became a billionaire after retirement. He became a billionaire nearly a decade later in 2014, thanks to his investment in the Charlotte’s women basketball team.
James has maximized his business with more than $1.2 billion in pre-tax earnings and has earned more than $385 million dollars in salary from thehe Cleveland cavaliers, Miami heat and the Lakers as NBA’S most active paid player.
Also James has raked in enormous sums of income from several endorsements, according to estimations in total James has raked in $900 million dollars from endorsements and other businesses.
James got his first deal with Nike in 2003 at the age of 18, a decision he made in favor of Nike against fellow contenders Reebok and Adidas because he saw it as a better long term deal as James believes in striking long structured deals to give him equities in brands rather than receiving quick fat pay checks for immediate cash outs. He later signed a lifetime deal with Nike that pays tens of millions of dollars annually.
Last year he struck deals with brands such as At & T, PepsiCo, and Walmart which made him the second highest earning athlete in the world.
His success story cannot be complete without including his real estate investment. He has 3 properties which are estimated to be way over $80 million. These are exotic properties which suit his lifestyle and status.
He also dreams of someday owning an NBA team and also has holdings in soccer, hockey, and pro baseball.
This is indeed a major milestone for Lebron James and it’s a well deserved win for him. There are no signs of slowing down soon from the ace superstar and we can only expect more from him. All the hard work and strategy has paid off and we say congratulations King Lebron James.
