Famous former Basketball star Magic Johnson has been declared a billionaire by Forbes, making him only the fourth athlete to join the exclusive club. He is joining the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tiger Woods in the club. According to Forbes, Magic has now an estimated net worth of about $1.2 billion after being an investor in a combination of businesses in which he has funded or has participated as an investor.
Johnson’s post-basketball endeavors include being a partial owner of teams in different sports such as the MLB’s Dodgers, the WNBA’s Sparks, the LAFC, who by the way are the reigning champions of the Major League Soccer, and most recently the former Laker has a part of the Washington Commanders.
However Forbes says his stake in a life insurance company called EquiTrust which he bought back in 2015 holds most of his wealth.
The 64-year-old had one of the most iconic careers in NBA history before retiring in 1996, but it was outside of sport where he made most of his money.
Forbes states that Johnson made $40m from his NBA career.
Johnson says he could have become a billionaire sooner had he not turned down shares in Nike when he was entering the NBA in the 1970s. He took a deal with Converse, which offered him $100,000 a year, instead.
