Fans of the legendary athlete, Michael Jordan, will be surprised to learn that the former basketball player earned $100 million from Nike Air Jordan's sneaker profits in 2014 alone. The amount was reportedly higher that what the athlete earned his whole career.
That informative tidbit was revealed through a PBS infographic report released last week, according to Bleacher Report. The infographic listed numbers and data about the "Sneaker Culture" in the country. Part of the PBS report mentioned that "Jordan made more money selling sneakers ($100 million) than he did during his entire 15-year career" in 2014, making him the "highest-paid retired athlete in the world last year."
This comes as no surprise, states Bleacher Report, given that the Nike Air Jordan line features some of the "most iconic products in the world." With Jordan's name attached to the product, the popularity of the brand remained high, long after the famous athlete retired, said the site.
As for Jordan's earnings, according to Forbes, the sports star earned $94 million during his illustrious 15 year career as an NBA player for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. The sale of his Nike Air Jordans reportedly surpassed shoe sales of top NBA player, LeBron James, by eight times. Last year, the Jordan U.S. shoe sales also rose 17 percent to $2.6 billion, according to data from SportScanInfo.
Meanwhile, Jordan has also joined Forbes' 2015 World's Billionaire List with a net worth of $1.1 billion. Jordan's well timed investment in the Charlotte Hornets reportedly helped to push the athlete towards Forbes' list. In 2010, the sports star acquired a majority stake in the team for $175 million. By 2013, Jordan reportedly increased his stake from 80 percent to 90 percent. However, Steve Ballmer's record $2 billion Los Angeles Clippers purchase last year, has helped to raise the NBA franchise values. This move reportedly boosted Jordan's Hornet stake to $500 million.
Aside from his stake in the Hornets and royalties from Nike's Jordan brand, the famous athlete also has endorsement deals with Gatorade, Hanes and Upper Deck. Jordan even owns seven restaurants and a car dealership.
