Magic Johnson – Net Worth, Money and More
Net Worth: $500 Million
Career/Profession: Basketball Player, Entrepreneur and Author
Earvin Magic Johnson was an American Basketball player who has a net worth of about $500 million. He was a retired hall of fame, who served America for about 12 years. After announcing his retirement due to HIV, he established a firm named Magic Johnson Enterprise and became an entrepreneur. He established this business empire after collaborating with Starbucks franchises, real estate holdings and theatres.
Early Life:
Magic Johnson was born on August 14th, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan. He belongs to a large family with nine sisters and brothers. His father Irving Sr. served General Motor Assembly Line and his mother was a school attendant. Johnson completed his schooling from Everette High School, where he became the backbone of Basketball team. His passion for basketball helped him to get a title “Magic” after he scored 36 points, 16 assists and 16 rebounds in a game and luckily it was being witnessed by sportswriter. He started practicing at 7:30 am in the morning and his love for basketball got more intense after watching Earl Monroe.
Passionate for Basketball:
His passion for basketball got more intense after schooling and he continued playing basketball at Michigan State University too. His height being 6 feet 9 inches was the biggest advantage of point guard. In his first year he played for the team Spartans and won Big Ten Conference title. He became a success stone for his team and took them to the NCAA finals. There he had to face Indiana’s star Larry Bird and then Johnson-Bird rivalry became the consequence of this series. After defeating Larry, he was entitled as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
Los Angeles Lakers chose Magic in 1979 and he became a part of the team. Magic and Kareem Abdul Jabbar took the team to the NBA Championship and their efforts led the Lakers to grab a victory over Philadelphia. His performance with an average of 18 points, 7.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game helped him to won the title of Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA finals. He continued to shrine with this performance and won four more championships for his team The Lakers and three more MVP awards.
NBA Superstar:
Magic Johnson led The Lakers in the NBA Finals for the third season in 1981-1982. It was the second time in his career when The Lakers defeated the team Philadelphia. In this Johnson scored 13 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds in Game 6. It was followed by third Finals in 1982-1983 between both the teams in these four years. But unfortunately The Lakers was defeated by Philadelphia after losing four consecutive matches and did not win any match during the whole series. In 1984, Magic again faced Larry Bird and this time Bird was the representative of the Boston Celtics. Firstly Celtics beat The Lakers in 1984 Championship, but The Lakers put the whole endeavor and again won the title in the following year’s tournament. Johnson’s team The Lakers remained persistent in their performance throughout the 1980s and continued to be among the top competitors in the NBA’s championship. In 1987, they again proved their performance after beating Boston Celtics.
Retirement Due to AIDS:
In 1991, he got retired from The Lakers after knowing that he is suffering from AIDS. According to him it was the result of unprotected sex. It was a very difficult time for Johnson as his wife Cookie was pregnant. To raise awareness among the people regarding HIV/AIDS he established the Magic Johnson Foundation. He was a good writer and in 1992 he wrote a book named ‘What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS’. He was very determined and passionate towards Basketball and continued to be a part of Summer Olympics Games 1992 in Barcelona. He then got involved with an American ‘Dream Team’ along with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and won. He wanted to return to the Profession again, but because of the protests done by other teams he decided to drop that plan.
Switch Over:
After retirement, he explored various options such as he wrote a book My Life in 1992. He used to write in his spare time and the best examples are 1983’s Magic and 1989’s Magic Touch. He sometimes used to commentary the whole Basketball series and also became a Basketball coach for the team The Lakers. In 1996 he took a comeback as a player again for The Lakers, but took final retirement for the sake of the team and its members with an awe-inspiring legacy. In his whole career, he finally scored 17,707 points and 1,824 steals. His name was registered among the top 50 players in NBA list.
As An Entrepreneur:
Magic after his retirement with an impressive legacy became an entrepreneur. During his long career in Basketball he earned about $18 million with several endorsements. With his savings he established a business empire named ‘Magic Johnson Enterprises’ that gives Magic personal net worth of about $500 million and it itself values $1 billion today. His enterprise owns his theatres, marketing company and a film studio. He has to face many ups and downs during this phase. He had to sell various franchises of Starbucks for about $75 million in 2010. In 2012 Magic and his several partners took over The Los Angeles Dodgers and purchased it from Frank McCourt. In this way he became the powerful force among the top entrepreneurs of the world. He has signed various endorsement deals including Converse, PepsiCo and Red Rooster Restaurant. There are various subsidiaries of his enterprise such as:
- Magic Johnson Entertainment
- Magic Johnson Productions
- Magic Johnson Theatres
- Urban Coffee Opportunities
