LeBron James is, first and foremost, one of the greatest basketball players to ever step foot on the court. He might be the best, period, but that’s a heated discussion for some other time.
He’s also an actor, activist, former vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, investor, a Web 3 pioneer, an occasional rapper and an all-around multi-hyphenate of the first order.
He’s now officially a billionaire, with Forbes’s estimating that "James has officially become the first-ever billionaire NBA player.”
Being a professional basketball player is certainly a lucrative job.
Last year the median annual salary of a NBA player was $4,347,600.
But it takes a lot of hustle to reach James’ level of success.
So how did he get there? Let’s break it down.
His NBA Career
James is far and away the highest-paid player in NBA history.
As of November of last year, he has earned over $390 million since his professional career began in 2003.
His contract with the Los Angeles Lakers is set to expire at the end of the 2022-2023 season, which will net him an additional $44 million.
His base annual salary is estimated to be $42.5 million.
Forbes ranks James as the second-highest paid athlete in the world after soccer legend Lionel Messi.
Warner Bros. Pictures
His Comedic And Acting Career
Beyond his prowess on the court, James immediately gained attention for his thousand-watt smile and natural charisma.
As soon as he entered the NBA, winning the Rookie of the Year award with the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was clear he wasn’t just a basketball star.
He began easing himself into Hollywood in a way that’s become traditional for high-profile athletes and other non-actors for decades, by cameoing on “The Simpsons” (in 2005) and hosting “Saturday Night Live” (in 2007).
Along the way he cameoed in “Entourage” (it was the ‘00s, after all) and lent his voice to cartoons including “The Cleveland Show” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
On the subject of cartoons, in 2011 he executive produced and lent his voice to the animated web series “The LeBrons.”
It’s not exactly fondly remembered, as critics said it basically served as a way for LeBron to extend his brand.
It helped by shoehorning in appearances by the many brands he was endorsing at the time, including HP (HPQ), Intel (INTC), Sprite (KO), and Beats by Dr. Dre (APPL) .
These all served as warm-ups for his true breakthrough into Hollywood, playing himself in the 2015 comedy “Trainwreck.”
Written by and starring then-ascendent comedian Amy Schumer and directed by Judd Apatow, the film showed that LeBron had keen comic timing, and was willing to play with the expectations people might place on a professional actor.
His running joke is that he gets upset that Bill Hader’s character might watch the latest episode of “Downton Abbey.”
Critics raved about his performance.
"It seems safe to declare that he has given the greatest motion-picture acting performance by an active professional basketball player of all time,” the New Yorker said.
James kept the momentum going, executive producing the game show “The Wall” and appearing in and producing the HBO talk show “The Shop.”
It has since moved to YouTube.
He’s also produced, through his SpringHill Entertainment Company, a plethora of TV shows and documentary specials, ranging from “Cleveland Hustles” to “Shut Up and Dribble.”
But his biggest foray into the larger entertainment world came with his starring role in “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” a sequel to the Michael Jordan-starring animated characters and a basketball star movie from 1996.
The movie was delayed by the pandemic, and simultaneously released on HBO Max last summer, earning a not great $162.8 million box office against a $150 million budget.
The film was savaged by critics, who tore it apart for basically being a smorgasbord of plugs for various intellectual properties owned by Warner Bros, including not just Bugs Bunny and company but “Rick & Morty,” “Austin Powers,” and “Game of Thrones.”
LeBron was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Actor. His salary for the film, and many of his other projects, is unknown. But it presumably all adds up.
His Music Career
Like Shaquille O'Neal before him, James has been known to rock the mic. The Billboard charts are rarely bothered by his presence.
His Real Estate Holdings
It’s estimated that James owns “roughly $80 million worth of real estate.”
That includes a Brentwood mansion that he bought for $20.5 million in 2021 and a Beverly compound worth $36.75 million.
He also owns a seven-acre mansion in his native Akron, Ohio.
His Endorsements
This is his real money maker.
James has endorsed products ranging from AT&T (T), Nike (NKE), Beats Electronics, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors (KIMTF) , Nike (NKE), Walmart (WMT), Ruffles and Mountain Dew (PEP), to name just a few.
He typically earns $50 million to $90 million per year from endorsements.
His first endorsement deal with Nike paid out $90 million in seven years.
In 2015, he signed a lifetime deal with the company for an estimated $32 million annually.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
His Business Deals
James has been noted by his shrew business sense.
Forbes notes he has “has long structured deals to give him equity in brands he partners with, giving him a cut of the upside instead of a quick paycheck.”
He’s an investor in Lyft (LYFT), Blaze Pizza, Lobos 1707, Tonal, with his Blaze endorsement alone earning him $25 million.
He also co-founded the designer retail store UNKNWN in Miami, Florida.
He owned stock in Beats by Dre and according to ESPN, when Apple purchased the brand for $3 billion, he earned $30 million in cash and stocks from the sale.
All in all, Forbes estimates that he has racked up “$900 million in income from endorsements and other business ventures.
