Basketball legend Magic Johnson has become only the fourth athlete to be declared a billionaire by Forbes.
Forbes, a world-renowned business magazine, estimates Magic Johnson’s wealth at about $1.2bn (Ā£990m).
Popular golfer Tiger Woods and NBA stars Michael Jordan and Lebron James are the other billionaire athletes recognised by Forbes.
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Being a businessman, Johnson has investments in many companies and isĀ owner of numerous stakes in different sports teams.
According to Forbes, the 64-year-old’s stake in a life insurance company accounts for most of his wealth.
Johnson had a stellar NBA career many will pray for. Having retired from the sport in 1996, it must be noted that most of his money was made outside of Basketball.
Stakes and investments
It may interest you to know that Johnson has ownership stakes in three Los Angeles-based sports teams. This includes Major League Basketball (MLB)’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
He reportedly has investments in Burger King, Starbucks, 24 Hour Fitness and the life insurance company EquiTrust.
Johnson also says he could have become a billionaire sooner if he had not turned down shares in Nike when he was entering the NBA back in the 1970s.
He took a deal with Converse, which offered him $100,000 a year, instead.
“My family didn’t come from money, that’s one thing that hurt us sometimes. When you don’t come from money, you don’t know. I didn’t even know what stocks [were] at that time,” Johnson saidĀ earlier this year.
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“So I passed on the stocks. Can you imagine? 45 years, $5 billion that stock would have been worth today.”
Forbes states that Johnson made $40m from his NBA career.
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