Newest billionaire: Magic Johnson worth $1.2B

You can now add billionaire to the list of accolades Erving “Magic” Johnson has earned over his lifetime.

Forbes announced that the five-time NBA champion is worth $1.2 billion. That’s far more than what he thought he would make.

In 1990, Johnson told Sports Illustrated that he planned on making $100 to $200 million and that he would make money doing “big business” in sports.

He owns stakes in several teams across leagues — the Washington Commanders (NFL), Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA) and Los Angeles Football Club (MLS), according to Forbes. He also owns movie theaters, fast food franchises, real estate and health care and life insurance companies through his Magic Johnson Enterprises. Johnson’s company also has a contract to renovate Terminal 1 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport’s cargo facility.

Johnson now joins the ranks of only a handful of athletes who have crossed the billion-dollar threshold — a small group that includes Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and LeBron James, according to ESPN.

He didn’t make his fortune alone. Forbes reported he built his wealth through joint ventures and partnerships. He got his foot in the door in a deal with current Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Gruber. When he and Johnson met, along with music executive Joe Smith, Gruber was the CEO of Sony Pictures. Gruber and Smith connected Johnson with super-agent Michael Ovitz, who said he didn’t represent athletes before recognizing Johnson’s potential and putting the NBA player through a business boot camp to train him on how to become a businessman.

“It’s probably the first and only time I ever did that,” Ovitz told Forbes. “I just made a decision, I can’t really tell you why, that I was just going to help him out and make it work for him. But I did it, and he was just terrific. I was very happy that I did what I did.”

According to the NBA, Johnson earned the nickname “Magic” when he was in high school in Lansing, Michigan. Sportswriter Fred Stabley, Jr. gave him the moniker after Johnson had 36 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists during a game playing for Everett High School. He led the team to a state championship in 1977. After high school, he went to Michigan State University, where he took the Spartans to a Big Ten title his freshman year. The next year they took home the NCAA championship.

Johnson spent 13 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping them earn five championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. He was the NBA’s MVP three times — in 1987, 1989 and 1990 — NBA Finals MVP in 1980, 1982 and 1987 and a member of the All-NBA First Team nine times. He also made 12 appearances in All-Star games, taking the MVP trophy twice in 1990 and 1992.

He was the league’s all-time assist leader with 10,141 and now ranks No. 7, according to ESPN.

Johnson left the NBA in 1991 after announcing he was HIV positive. He went on to participate in the 1992 All-Star Game and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, where he won the gold medal as part of the “Dream Team.” He came back to the NBA as Lakers’ head coach in 1994 and as a player in 1996, appearing in 32 regular-season games, according to Lakers Nation. He retired once again later that year.

Over his NBA career, he made only $40 million or $110 million when adjusted for inflation, according to ESPN.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Johnson is married to his wife Cookie and they have three children, according to the NBA.

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