Everyone dreams of becoming an athlete at some point in their life. Be it for fame, power, or money, all of us have stepped into an imaginary sporting arena where fans sing our name. Be it Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or LeBron James, we’ve all wanted their lives.
Advertisement
Not all of us are MJ, but Jordan is. Retired for 20 years now, Jordan has made quite a bit of green in his lifetime. He did become a multimillionaire during his playing time, but not as rich as he is now. Of the 1.7 billion dollars he’s made, only 86 million came as a player.
In 2021–22 alone, Jordan made almost three times what he made in 15 years as a player. That number beats out two of the world’s best athletes: Lionel Messi and LeBron James. And not just individually, but combined.
Michael Jordan is not just a basketball player – he is a brand
Over the past 39 years, Michael Jordan has evolved from being a human to a god. an untouchable entity who sits above every other athlete. Tom Brady and LeBron James come close with their valuations, but quite frankly, nobody is running to buy their merchandise.
Jordan Brand has become a status symbol; it’s synonymous with the highest level of performance. Nobody is making a movie called Like Chris Paul, but there is one called Like Mike. Michael Jordan earned 256.1 million Dollars in 2022, according to Forbes, a value that beat out the combined numbers of Lionel Messi and Lebron James’ earnings that year.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo, with his massive contract in Saudi Arabia, comes close to those figures. Even then, he falls short of having the capacity to increase his revenue exponentially the way Jordan can.
Can anyone apart from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi touch the bar that Jordan has set?
Here are the top 10 earning athletes according to Forbes in 2021-22:
Lionel Messi: 130 million
LeBron James: 121.2 million
Cristiano Ronaldo: 115 million
Neymar: 95 million
Stephen Curry: 92.8 million
Kevin Durant: 92.1 million
Roger Federer: 90.7 million
Canelo Alvarez: 90 million
Tom Brady: 83.9 million
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 80.9 million
(values all in dollars)
The only active athletes who could potentially drive in over $200 million in revenue are Messi and Ronaldo. Although that figure could only be achieved through their salaries, not through their extracurricular activities. Jordan has been retired for 20 years and makes 256 million Dollars off the field!
Messi and Ronaldo made a paltry sum of 55 million each in comparison (calling 55 million paltry is sacrilegious, we know!). However, there is some doubt that the brands they represent will consistently bring them above the 200 million mark on a yearly basis.
Michael Jordan is a phenom in both the basketball world and in business. If he had played today, he would have been the first black athlete to be valued at one billion dollars, putting him on a level above everyone else.
