“I would go clean the first six floors, but on the seventh floor, that’s where the CEO’s office was, so I would bust in and I would pretend like I was the CEO, and I would put my feet up on the desk," he said on Advancing the Dream: Live from the Apollo in 2013, according toMSNBC. “I grew up poor, but I didn’t have poor dreams.” Years later, his dream became a reality. Following his storied basketball career—which saw him lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five championship wins—Johnson’s success continued off the court. But while he’s the one with a top-floor CEO desk these days, he hasn’t forgotten about his roots. “We got to still understand that we got to understand money, build wealth and pass this on to our kids, and then also go into the community that we live in and own our business and then put our people to work,” he said at the Apollo. “That’s what I’ve been about my whole career.” His basketball career is in the public eye again thanks to the 2022 HBO Max series Winning Time—which has been renewed for a second season and tells the story of the 1980s Lakers—as well as Apple TV’s new, four-part documentary, They Call Me Magic. But with a nine-figure net worth, it’s safe to say it’s still winning time for Johnson in real life, too. Keep reading to find out Magic Johnson’s net worth, how he made it and how he uses his fortune to give back.
What is Magic Johnson’s net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Magic Johnson’s net worth is a whopping $600 million as of 2022.
What is Magic Johnson known for?
Magic Johnson, whose real name is Earvin Johnson, got his nickname in high school from a sportswriter who witnessed him rack up 36 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists in one game. He went pro after graduating from Michigan State and became the Lakers’ first overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft. As a skilled, 6’9” point guard—the tallest in league history at the time—he led the team to five championships over his 13-year career in the league. The three-time MVP also famously sparked a rivalry with Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, now a fellow Hall of Famer. “When I played, Larry Bird was the only one I feared,” Johnson once said, per ESPN Classic. The pair forged an unlikely friendship and are on good terms today. “We see each other at events,” Johnson told The Guardian in 2021. “Larry is a quiet guy and wants a quiet life. And I’m this guy who is completely the opposite. But we have this incredible relationship that when we see each other you’d think we’d been talking every day. On November 7, 1991, Johnson retired from basketball and publicly revealed his HIV diagnosis. “Because of the HIV virus that I have attained, I will have to retire from the Lakers. Today,” he stated in a press conference at the time, adding, “I plan to go on living for a long time.” He later came of retirement in 1992 to join the American basketball “Dream Team” at the Olympics. The team was victorious, and Johnson went from wearing Lakers’ purple and gold to getting a gold medal. “It proved to be the right decision,” he told CBS News in 2021 of returning to the sport. “It helped people who were living with not just HIV and AIDS, but with any disease, that you can live on, you can… live a productive life.”
What is Magic Johnson doing now?
Magic Johnson is now an entrepreneur with a focus on bringing high-quality stores and services to underserved urban areas. While he’s made millions, he’s also a philanthropist and remains focused on creating generational wealth. “We, as Black people, had never really understood generational wealth and passing that wealth on,” he told The Guardian in 2021. “We’re finally starting to understand that.” He continued, “It empowers our community..now these kids dream that they can become not only a basketball player or a football player, but they can become a businessman. So that’s what’s important, that we have power and that we have a seat at the table.”
What is Magic Johnson Enterprises?
In 1987, Johnson used his NBA earnings to launch Magic Johnson Enterprises, an investment company which, according to Crunchbase, “provides high quality products and services that focus primarily on ethnically diverse and underserved urban communities through strategic alliances, investments, consulting and endorsements.” According to Fox Business, in 2020 the Magic Johnson Enterprises website stated the firm had holdings worth an estimated $1 billion, spanning several industries.
How much did Magic Johnson make from the NBA?
In 1981, Johnson signed a unique deal with the Los Angeles Lakers: a 25-year, $25 million extension deal, structured to keep him playing for the team. It was the longest and highest paying contract in sports at the time, per CNN. He later went on to ink more deals to account for years when he wasn’t the league’s highest paid player, according to Sports Illustrated.
How much did Magic Johnson make from Converse?
Although Johnson had the chance to be sponsored by Nike back in 1979, he did not—ahem—just do it. Nike, a new company at the time, offered him stocks instead of money. Rather than gamble on the stocks, Johnson opted for a deal with Converse, a business decision that, given the current valuation of Nike stock, likely cost him millions. “I didn’t know anything about stock,” he said, per Inc. Magazine. “I’m from the inner city. We don’t know about stocks. Boy, did I make a mistake. I’m still kicking myself. Every time I’m in a Nike Store, I get mad. I could have been making money off of everybody buying Nikes right now.” According to the Los Angeles Times, Converse paid Johnson an estimated $2 million annually. Johnson dropped the company in 1992 after 13 years as a spokesman, saying at a U.S. Olympic team practice at the time, according to The Baltimore Sun, “Converse as a company is stuck in the ’60s and ’70s. They think the Chuck Taylor [sneaker] days are still here.” He continued, “I’ve never really been happy with them. Nike and Reebok pour money into advertising; I’ve been trying to get out for years.”
How much did Magic Johnson make from Starbucks?
Johnson made a deal with Starbucks in 1998 to bring the coffee corporation to the inner city, a move he called “what really stamped me as a serious businessman” on the Kneading Dough podcast, according to CNBC. Johnson, once part of the “Showtime” Lakers, convinced Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to accept his proposal with a showtime of a different kind. He took him to one of the movie theaters he owned to see the opening night of Waiting to Exhale, starring Whitney Houston. “Howard grabs me about 20 minutes in and says, ‘Earvin, I never had a movie-going experience quite like this,’” the basketball great recalled. While it’s unclear exactly how much he made off of the 50/50 partnership, dubbed Urban Coffee Opportunities, Johnson said the deal “changed everything” and included 125 stores in urban areas. “It showed everyone that I could drive ROI in urban America,” he said on the show. “When you think about African Americans now - over $1 trillion spending power—Latinos, over $1 trillion spending power, and moving even higher—there was nobody really building businesses and going after their disposable income. So my company was able to provide jobs and access to these retailers who were not coming in before, but now they hit a home run when we partnered and they came into the inner city.”
What other stores does Magic Johnson own?
In addition to Burger King and Starbucks, Magic Johnson Enterprises has also owned a slew of businesses over the years, including gyms, movie theaters and more. According to Fox Business, as of 2020, Johnson also had controlling stakes in Aspire TV, a cable network he founded, and life insurance company EquiTrust.
Does Magic Johnson own the Lakers?
Johnson, who was a Lakers player for 13 years, stepped in to coach the team for the end of the 1993-94 season after Randy Pfund was fired. The short coaching stint wasn’t the only way he impacted the team off the court, however, as he reportedly told the Associated Press at the time, “I want to go home. It’s never been my dream to coach. I want to own, to be a businessman. You’ve got to chase your dreams.” His dreams were realized in June 1994, when he became part owner of the team after purchasing 4.5 percent for a reported $10 million. In 2010, he sold his stake in the NBA team for an undisclosed sum to Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a longtime Lakers season-ticket holder. “This was a bittersweet business decision made on behalf of my family and myself, and I want to assure all the wonderful and loyal Lakers fans that my decision will in no way affect my dedication and support for the Los Angeles Lakers,” the NBA great said of the sale, according to Bleacher Report. “I am and will always be a Laker for life.”
What other teams does Magic Johnson own?
Mixing his sports background and business acumen, Magic Johnson has continued to purchase athletic teams. In 2014, he was part of an investment group that purchased the Los Angeles Sparks, a WNBA team. Long before he invested in the team, according toForbes, Johnson attended the first Sparks game back in 1997. He also got into a whole different ball game, so to speak, in 2012, when he purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers along with a group of investors, which also includedStan Kasten, the former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, Peter Gruber, a Golden State Warriors co-owner, and global investment firm Guggenheim Partners. Together they reportedly paid about $2.15 billion to buy the team, setting a record at the time for the highest amount of money spent on a North American sports franchise. The basketball star told HBO Real Sports that he contributed $50 million to the unprecedented deal. Further expanding his reach in the sports world, Johnson also became a part owner of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club in 2014, joining investors including soccer great Mia Hamm.
What contributions and donations has Magic Johnson made?
In 1991, in the same month he revealed his HIV diagnosis, Johnson founded the Magic Johnson Foundation, which “develops programs and supports community-based organizations that address the educational, health and social needs of ethnically diverse, urban communities.” According to CNN, as of 2014, the foundation had raised more than $20 million for charity and given out nearly $4 million in scholarships. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson also stepped up to support women- and minority-owned companies impacted by quarantine restrictions. He worked with MBE Capital Partners to provide $100 million in loans, funded through his EquiTrust Life Insurance Company. “This will allow them to keep their employees and keep their doors open,” he told CNBC Squawk Box in 2020. Next, How Space Jam Star LeBron James Became a Basketball-Playing Billionaire
