After agreeing to sell his shares in the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion, NBA legend Michael Jordan will earn a $2 billion profit, surpassing the $1.8 billion he has made with Nike over 40 years.
Jordan agreed to sell his majority stake in the team last Friday, ending a 13-year tenure as the team's owner. The sale is the seventh most-expensive sale price ever in sports franchise history, with six of the top seven deals happening within the last four years.
Details surrounding the sale confirm that Jordan will keep a minority stake in the team after the deal is approved, while reports have stated that the former owner will still have a say in who the team selects in the upcoming NBA Draft.
MJ is widely considered as the greatest player in NBA history. After his official departure, the NBA will no longer have any African-American majority owners.
In 2010, Jordan bought the then-Charlotte Bobcats from BET co-founder and RLJ Companies founder Bob Johnson for $180 million. Further reports have suggested that Jordan only put down $25 million in cash on the equity valuation at the time, with the remaining millions of enterprise value mostly being made up of existing debt on the team's business.
According to Spotrac, Jordan earned $93,877,500 in total cash throughout his playing career, with $250,000 in signing bonuses. In 40 years with Nike as a signature athlete and business partner, Jordan has earned approximately $1.8 billion.
Regardless of the team's success on the court, Jordan's ownership is still one of his most lucrative business endeavors. The value of the NBA franchise skyrocketed, resulting in the sale being 11 times more than the average evaluations from the NFL, NBA, and MLS franchises.
Under the leadership of Jordan, the Hornets played in just 15 playoff games, with three first-round exits. The franchise has yet to win an NBA championship, earning a lottery pick six times in the last years that they have drafted since 2004. Those picks included Adam Morrison in 2006 (no. 3), Brandan Wright in 2007 (no. 8), DJ Augustin in 2008 (no.9), and LaMelo Ball in 2020 (no. 3.)
The franchise made several draft mistakes, passing on Damian Lillard in 2012, Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013, Devin Booker in 2015, and Donovan Mitchell in 2017. In May, Stephen A. Smith said that Jordan is responsible for running many NBA careers, despite being one of the most successful players to play the game.
"Before we're ultra critical of this dude…to understand that Michael Jordan ruined many careers.," said Smith on his "Know Mercy" podcast. "There's a whole bunch of people that never won because of Michael Jordan."
"The players weren't the only careers that he messed with. (Do) You know how many executives Michael Jordan denied an opportunity to house a championship trophy? Once Michael Jordan became an owner, how many people (do) you think were interested in helping him do business?"
He continued, "They were ready to abuse him at every turn because they couldn't do anything against him on the basketball court. He wasn't free to pick the best basketball candidates and the best basketball minds. He had to pick people he could personally trust. That had to take precedence and priority because the overall Jordan brand had to be protected. I believe that firmly got in the way."
Despite that criticism, Jordan has made an enormous profit from his time as owner of the Hornets. It will shake out as his most profitable business deal - which is no small matter given the success he has had away from the court and in the boardroom.
