Attorneys for the defendants, now-defunct Dominick’s Finer Foods, a division of Safeway [MRWAY.UL], had claimed the advertisement was worth far less, around $127,000.
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Jurors deliberated for about six hours before coming back with the $8.9 million figure, at one point sending a note to the judge that said, “We need a calculator”.
Instead of adding the money that he won from the judgment to his bank account, Michael Jordan confirmed that he has other plans for the funds.
“It is my name, and I’ve worked hard for it for 30-something years, and I’m not just going to let someone take it”, he said, writes the Tribune. As for that ad, which appeared in a commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated, there was apparent reluctance to tear the pages.
The verdict was handed down in Chicago Friday evening.
During the trial, Jordan’s lawyers revealed that the star made about $480 million from Nike between 2000 and 2012 – and that he turned down one endorsement deal that would have paid him $80 million, ESPN reported.
Dominick’s lawyer Steven Mandell stated he is as proud as anybody concerning the championships Jordan delivered to Chicago. Jordan has authorized the use of his name for charitable purposes.
Michael Jordan has always been known as the most competitive and the most ruthless basketball player of all-time. “You are a cut above”. The advertisement congratulated him on his Hall of Fame induction, but Jordan argued that it hurt his brand image.
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“You can go get a steak over there”, he said.
