Despite earning an impressive $95 million during his 15-years as a professional basketball player, it looks like Michael Jordan’s sneaker earnings just totally eclipsed that figure.
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Jordan’s affiliation with Nike and the exponential growth of his brand Air Jordan officially made him the highest-paid retired athlete in the world last year. According to Forbes, it was million; per Basketball-Reference.com, it was $90.2 million. That deal created two more billionaires, owners of Chicago Bulls’ Jerry Reinsdorf and Houston Rockets’ Leslie Alexander. The sale of his Nike Air Jordans reportedly surpassed shoe sales of top NBA player, LeBron James, by eight times. As the masses struggle to be faster than bots on Saturday mornings, pay inflated prices to cop early or late, and post photos on their social media as proof of purchase, one thing’s for sure: Jordan’s pockets have remained on swole.
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Just when you forget how big Michael Jordan was, and still is, you come across a stat that reminds you that he is in another level of athlete super-stardom. An analyst who monitors Nike said that the company did an excellent job with the Air Jordan brand. Nike leaves a little money on the table by never producing enough to meet demand, but this always leaves Jordan fans wanting more. And don’t forget the $8.9 million he just won in a lawsuit against a defunct supermarket chain. “That inherently pulls in a much larger target market”. He signed his rookie contract worth $6 million for four years before making around $23.5 million for the next six years including $3.85 million during his first retirement.
