Even among mega-rich entertainers and athletes, former Chicago Bull’s star Michael Jordan is raking in an almost unimaginable amount of money. Thanks in large part to his partnership with Nike, Michael Jordan made an estimated $90 million dollars last year, according to Forbes. So how’d he do it?
The “Powder Blue” Jordan shoe, which was released on Saturday, earned $37 million in its first day of sales. And this is nothing new for the Jordan brand, since releases of the retro shoes are usually widely anticipated.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen people waiting all night outside of stores for the shoes, as well as incidents of viølence relating to teens being robbed of their Jordans.
In so far as earnings, the only athlete to surpass Jordan was Floyd Mayweather, but consider that Jordan has long been retired, whereas Mayweather is still in his prime. In fact, Jordan earned more in 2013 than he ever earned as a Chicago Bulls player. As an athlete, the most he ever earned in a single year was $80 million dollars. He surpassed that by $10 million in 2013.
In exploring Jordan’s brand brilliance, Forbes writer Kurt Badenhausen observed how Nike inked a deal with Jordan early on in his career, even going so far as to pay the $5,000 per game penalty handed down to Jordan by the NBA for wearing his signature sneaker. Nike also keeps shoe buyers thirsty by ensuring that there are never enough Jordans to meet the demands of buyers.
In all, the Jordan brand, with all its apparel, contributes $2 billion dollar to Nike’s revenue annually and Michael Jordan’s contract ensures that he gets his piece of the pie. It’s a business relationship that benefits both Jordan and Nike. A match made in financial heaven.
