For a long time, there’s been a debate on where the chosen one, aka LeBron James, deserves a spot on the list of the most amazing basketball players of all time. However, if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that James has finally reached the status of a billionaire. This is something that has been achieved by no other active NBA player!
At the age of 17, LeBron got the title of “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and at the time, he was only known for his skills on the court. In 2021, the NBA star took home approximately $121.2 million in earnings; this made him a part of the long list of billionaire celebrities. According to Forbes, James currently has an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion!
NBA Career
The 37-year-old basketball player’s NBA career has lasted for 19 years. In those years, he has received a pre-tax salary worth over $385 million from the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
The real question is: how did James make the bulk of his money during his career? Off the court, James had taken part in shrewd business ventures and endorsements from which he made more than $900 million! He also made a decent amount of money from the multimillion-dollar estates that he owns in Los Angeles as well as Ohio.
Nearly half of the money James currently owns comes from business ventures and his stakes in real estate properties. James is also the owner of a production company known by the name of SpringsHills Co. It is estimated that the company is worth around $300 million. SpringHill Co. produced the movie Space Jam: A New Legacy, which turned out to be a major hit and earned nearly $163 million at the box office.
Ownerships And Endorsements
The superstar also co-owns Fenway Sports Group, which owns Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox, Liverpool F.C., and others. He has shares in ride-hailing company Lyft, the pizza chain Blaze Pizza, and Tonal, which is a smart-fitness startup.
James also gets a huge part of his net worth from endorsement deals from famous brands around the world, some of which are PepsiCo, AT&T, and Walmart.
Although James got offered lucrative deals with brands such as Adidas and Reebok, he decidedly signed a deal with Nike in 2003 when he was only 18. A few years ago, Nike made an announcement in which they revealed that they had extended James’ contract into a lifetime agreement, which, incidentally, is also worth millions of dollars annually.