How Michael Jordan, the first billionaire athlete, makes and spends his $2.1 billion fortune

The beginning of ESPN's highly anticipated docuseries about Jordan's time on the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls team drops on Sunday, April 19.

"Everyone always wants to talk about the comparisons between he and I," Jordan said at the memorial. "When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died."

Jordan provided a moment of levity at the memorial service for Kobe and Gigi Bryant in February 2020: "Now he's got me — I'll have to look at another crying meme for the next three years."

Jordan has been been a preferred meme for years — many still post this photo of Jordan crying during his 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech all over social media.

In addition to winning six NBA championships, Jordan had won other prestigious awards. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom because, as Obama joked, Jordan is "more than just an Internet meme."

His post-basketball career is already influencing the next generation. Kevin Garnett has talked about following in Jordan's footsteps and buying the Minnesota Timberwolves.

At age 57, he still works out. In 2013, he declared he was going to get down to his playing weight of 218 pounds — it is unknown if he reached the goal.

Jordan is well known for his love of cigars and told Cigar Aficionado magazine that he smokes six a day.

Since his rise to fame, he's been spotted in all kinds of cars, from Ferraris to Land Rovers.

The very first cars Jordan bought after he received his reported $10 million signing bonus from the Chicago Bulls were a collection of Mercedes and Pontiacs. He bought seven cars at once for himself and his family members.

The yacht is complete with its own branding.

Other travel setbacks include this 154-foot rented mega yacht named Mr. Terrible.

Jordan reportedly never travels overseas without a security team, which sets him back a cool $1,000 to $1,500 per hour. His codename is reportedly "Yahweh," a Hebrew word for God.

Jordan reportedly took Love's driver for a test-run once and ended up breaking the club completely. Love had to replace it, and it seems to have worked out in his favor — he went on to win 12 PGA Tour events during the 12 years he was using the replacement driver.

He started playing the game while at UNC in a threesome with his then-roommate and Davis Love III.

Jordan plays a lot of golf. But, as Barkley put it, what's the point in playing the sport if not for some cash?

He's also reportedly competitive at other kinds of games. He reportedly won $500 beating his business manager Estee Portnoy in sudoku.

And he reportedly cheated in some bets with his teammates to make sure he won. ESPN's Amin Elhassan said Jordan would bet his teammate, Scottie Pippen, on the outcome of mid-game, animated Jumbotron races, even though Jordan already knew which animated character would win.

He even took $500 from a fan at a charity golf tournament when the fan said Jordan couldn't land the ball on the green.

He also used to play $100 post-practice shooting games. One source said Jordan's taunting of Rodney McCray may have ruined McCray's career.

Jordan is also a famous gambler. Charles Barkley told Dan Patrick Jordan used to wager hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single hole when he played golf. While others, like Barkley himself, would wager a few hundred dollars.

He is also a minority owner of an MLB team — the Miami Marlins — having been part of Derek Jeter's investment group.

Jordan has invested some of his fortune in tech startups. He was reportedly one of several celebrities who invested heavily in Gigster — a Silicon Valley startup connecting companies to freelance software developers, designers, and project managers.

Jordan married Yvette Prieto in 2013, and they welcomed twin daughters, Victoria and Ysabel, in 2014.

Marcus, Jordan's second child, opened a boutique sneaker shop in Disney World called Trophy Room inspired by the trophy room in his house growing up.

Jordan's three oldest children have all followed their father into the shoe business. Jeffrey, the oldest, works at Nike in Oregon, and Jasmine, the youngest, has worked for her father's NBA team as well as being an Air Jordan representative in Charlotte.

The pair married in 1989 and divorced in 2006. The 17-year marriage cost Jordan a whopping $168 million in the settlement.

Jordan has three children from his first marriage with Juanita Vanoy.

In 2019, he pledge $7 million to open two medical clinics in Charlotte.

In 2018, he donated $2 million to Hurricane Florence relief efforts.

In 2016, Jordan also pledged two large donations to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the International Association of Chiefs of Police's new Institute for Community-Police Relations. This came after a string of police-involved shootings.

Instead, he donated millions to 23 charities benefiting the children of Chicago.

Jordan sued and won millions. But he didn't keep all the money.

That's not the only lawsuit he's been involved in though pertaining to his name and branding. Two supermarkets, Dominick's and Jewel-Osco, associated themselves with Jordan without his permission.

The company had been using a logo similar to Jordan's Air Jordan logo, and the symbols used spell out his name in Chinese — Qiaodan Sports. He first sued the company in 2012, but lower-level courts ruled in favor of the company.

Source: Business Insider

The company had been using a logo similar to Jordan's Air Jordan logo, and the symbols used spell out his name in Chinese — Qiaodan Sports. He first sued the company in 2012, but lower-level courts ruled in favor of the company.

Source: Business Insider

In 2016, Jordan won a case against a Chinese sportswear company that was using his Chinese name.

They also list the mismatch of location and price as a possible reason — homes in the Highland Park area have a median value of $476, 391. Homes at the price point Jordan is listing are typically located closer to Lake Michigan.

Luxury real estate brokers think the amount of customization the house has undergone in order to become Jordan's personal palace is one of a few reasons why the property hasn't sold yet.

And he still pays a full-time staff to keep it up and running.

It is estimated that Jordan has paid more than $680,000 in property taxes since he put the house up for sale.

It has its own basketball court, as well as a pool with a patch of lawn in the middle of it.

But eight years later, the house is still on the market and the price is down to $14.9 million.

He's selling his compound in Chicago, which was originally listed for $29 million. The estate's gate is emblazoned with his jersey number.

It has some incredible lake views.

He also has a $2.8 million house near Charlotte.

Jordan even has a custom, Carolina-blue golf cart with the Jumpman logo.

Source: Business Insider

The Hobe Sound, Florida, course is called Grove XXIII — keeping with his obsession with the No. 23 — and opened in the fall of 2019.

He reportedly decided to build a private golf course because he was annoyed by the pace of play at his previous country club.

He spent $12.8 million building his dream house in Florida in 2012.

He has a private jet. It's painted Carolina blue, and the ID number contains his jersey number (23) and number of titles (6).

That steady stream of income lets him live a pretty amazing lifestyle.

In 2019, many billionaires lost money — but not Jordan. His net worth rose by $300 million.

He also owns a Nissan dealership in Durham, North Carolina.

... and Michael Jordan's Restaurant in Chicago, an upscale restaurant serving "elevated American classics."

... Michael Jordan's Steakhouse, which has locations in Connecticut, Washington, and Chicago ...

He owns several restaurants including 1000 North in Jupiter, Florida ...

Jordan told Playboy, "How can I stand in front of a camera and say I'll eat Beanee Weenees?" He said the deal was close to $1 million per year — at the time, he had made less than $5 million in career earnings.

Jordan said he has always been picky about his endorsements because he wanted to be genuine and also build his own brand. He once rejected a huge endorsement deal with Beanee Weenees because he didn't like the name.

Source: Playboy

Jordan said he has always been picky about his endorsements because he wanted to be genuine and also build his own brand. He once rejected a huge endorsement deal with Beanee Weenees because he didn't like the name.

... and Hanes. He's been a spokesman for the company for nearly 30 years.

... trading card company Upper Deck, ...

He has several endorsement deals with companies like Gatorade ...

Jordan reportedly wanted to sign with Adidas in 1984, but they passed because they preferred NBA players who were 7 feet tall.

Nike's Jordan Brand has even partnered with the popular video game "Fortnite."

Source: Business Insider

The popularity of Air Jordans has resurged in recent years thanks to celebrity partnerships to connect to a younger audience and new versions of retro styles to reconnect to the older fans.

Nike's Jordan Brand alone now brings in roughly $3 billion in revenue each year.

Source: Business Insider, Los Angeles Times

Nike founder Phil Knight called signing Jordan the best decision he ever made, nabbing the NBA rookie for $250,000 a year in 1984.

For comparison, LeBron James is estimated to earn less than $90 million a year from salary, winnings, and endorsements.

According to Forbes, Jordan's yearly earnings were roughly $145 million.

Jordan is still waiting for the day the Hornets win a championship. He has said that winning a championship as an owner would be more gratifying than any of the six rings he won as a player.

Jordan did sell a minority stake in the club in 2019, but he reportedly has no interest in giving up control of the team.

The team is now worth more than $1.5 billion, and he owns 97% of the equity in the club.

... and he officially became a billionaire in 2014 when the NBA franchise value rose.

He bought the Charlotte Hornets in 2010 for $175 million ...

... and the Jordan Brand.

Source: Forbes

His net worth is now believed to be $2.1 billion thanks to the skyrocketing value of his NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets ...

And his income now is way more than his total playing salary during his career. He earned $90 million total in NBA salary, and about $63 million of that came in his final two seasons with the Chicago Bulls.

As of 2015, he was reportedly making $100 million a year from Nike royalties alone.

Jordan is the world's first athlete billionaire.