$383 million is a number that keeps coming up whenever LeBron James is brought up in business setting. That’s how much he made in the NBA over 19 years, with three teams, four championships, and a lot of MVP debates. It’s a huge amount by any standard measure. The really strange thing about LeBron’s money story is that $383 million is not even close to the whole picture.
Forbes says that James has made more than $900 million just from endorsements and business deals. He makes more than $1.2 billion a year before taxes, which makes him one of only two basketball stars to ever make it to the Forbes list of billionaires. The other is Michael Jordan. Jordan, in particular, didn’t reach that point until 2014, which was more than ten years after his last NBA game. LeBron got there while his shoes were still being put on.
Take a moment to think about that. Most pro athletes make a lot of money, spend a lot of money, and leave the game with a lot less than their peak contracts might suggest. LeBron seems to have known from the start that the contract was just the beginning and not the end. The deals he made with Nike, AT&T, PepsiCo, and Walmart weren’t set up like most endorsement deals, where he gets paid and the relationship ends. So he pushed for fairness. Real stakes in ownership. Not just a fee for being in their ads, but a share of what those companies build.
More than anything else, that instinct is likely what sets LeBron’s financial path apart from that of other athletes who made about the same amount of money but didn’t end up as rich. Money that waits is equity. It builds up slowly while you’re on the court and keeps growing long after you’re gone. It doesn’t reach its peak when you’re playing.
Based on his investment choices, it seems like he was interested in many different fields and not just collecting brand checks. Tonal is a new fitness company. You can share a ride with Lyft. The fast-food chain Blaze Pizza. Each of these makes sense in some way—consumer brands in areas where he was already well-known and had a lot of influence. Next, there’s SpringHill Entertainment, the TV and movie production company he helped start. Forbes estimates that it’s worth about $300 million by itself. Space Jam: A New Legacy, which made over $163 million around the world, was made by this studio. That’s not a project for famed people to show off. That’s a media company that works.
LeBron was clear about this goal for years before it came true. In an interview with GQ in 2014, he said that becoming a billionaire was his biggest accomplishment. He then added, with his usual excitement, “Hip hip hooray!” “Oh my God, I’m going to be thrilled.” That honesty is almost scary. He did not say that it was an accident or an incident. He was working toward it on purpose, even though most people were still wondering if he’d win his next ring.
There’s still no word on whether or not a new generation of athletes will follow in LeBron’s footsteps, or if his path is unique because of his timing, business sense, and cultural impact. It is clear that a billionaire athlete, or someone who really does become that rich while still playing sports, is not just made up of money from their salary. That depends on what you decide to do when you get paid.
