Michael Jordan Is Still Dominating, Named Highest-Paid Retired Athlete By ‘Forbes’
Michael Jordan will be remembered as the greatest basketball player ever, but his business prowess as of late is legendary as well. According to a list Forbes released earlier this week, Jordan is the highest-paid retired athlete in the world — and it’s not even close.
Jordan topped the list by earning a whopping $110 million in 2015, almost double the amount of retired soccer extraordinaire David Beckham, who came in second place on the list after MJ. Among all athletes, active or retired, Jordan only earned less than Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, who both earned over a staggering $150 million in 2015.
Jordan is currently worth an estimated $1.1 billion. Given the current trend of growth for the Jordan Brand, Forbes predicts that he will earn approximately $30 million more than any other athlete in the world in 2016.
Why does Jordan’s namesake brand, along with the seemingly endless endorsement deals, continue to grow at a rapid pace despite retiring from basketball 13 years ago?
Forbes released some interesting data on Jordan’s popularity based off of a market research firm named Repucom. Their Celebrity DBI, which tracks awareness and consumer sentiments across seven attributes for thousands of celebrities in the U.S., ranks Jordan as the most marketable person in the entire country. Jordan’s DBI boasts an incredible 98 percent awareness level. To put that in perspective, Jordan’s score is on par with Barack Obama’s.
Michael Jordan named to the Forbes' "World Billionaires" list for the 2nd straight year https://t.co/tDz7uuw9Ux pic.twitter.com/PfZMVC8h6W
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 2, 2016
“Michael Jordan is defined by what he did in basketball and his NBA performance is the benchmark to which other great players are measured,” said Repucom executive Peter Laatz. “He has stayed relevant and in the news more than a decade after retirement through other things like the Jordan brand, his ownership of the Charlotte Hornets and the viral ‘Crying Jordan’ meme.”
The lion’s share of MJ’s worth stems from the iconic Jordan Brand. According to Business Insider, it brings in approximately $2.5 billion in sales each year and corners a hefty 58 percent of the sneaker market. Not impressed? Compare that to Lebron James’ $300 million sneaker sales in 2013 and it becomes clear that Jordan is on an entirely different planet when it comes popularity and power. Jordan earns an estimated $100 million each year off of those sales, more than what the NBA paid him over his entire career. Some analysts believe his annual royalty check will reach $200 million by 2020.
Eric Tracy, an analyst who tracks Nike at Janney Capital Markets, calls the Jordan shoe business nothing less than a “phenomenon.”
“Nike has done an unbelievable job evolving the Jordan Brand from pure basketball to a more lifestyle brand. That inherently pulls in a much larger target market. Nike’s ability to exploit the sneakerhead phenomenon is second to none. They are constantly refreshing the Jordan retro line, which represents about 50% of the Jordan shoe business. Nike leaves a little money on the table by never producing enough to meet demand, but this always leaves Jordan fans wanting more.”
Beyond Nike, Jordan has deals with Gatorade, 2K Sports, Five Star Fragrances, Upper Deck, and Hanes. In 2010, he became the majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), which Forbes earlier this year valued at $725 million, a significant increase over the reported $175 million M.J. paid former owner Robert Johnson.
At 53-years-old, Jordan is definitely in a rarefied air. It’s unlikely that we will ever see Kobe or Lebron continuing to earn this much in endorsements over a decade after they’ve retired from basketball. In fact, it’s tough to think of any athlete in any sport who would be able to pull off this type of business dominance. On or off of the court, Michael Jordan has proven that his competitive spirit is nearly impossible to match.
[Photo by Elsa Staff/Getty Images]
