In September 1997, Michael Jordan, unbeknownst to everyone including him, stepped into the final year of his glorious career with the Chicago Bulls, whom he had led to five NBA championships until then. MJ was a visionary, on and off the court. He was not going to retire just another great player who left and after some years, forgotten by the community and fans. He made sure that his legacy became part of history. Before his ‘Last Dance’ with the Bulls, the superstar announced the launch of a new entity, the ‘Jordan Brand’.
Nike and Jordan had earned an eye-watering sum of money selling the Air Jordan shoes for 13 years. So in 1997, the sports apparel brand decided to take the next step and give Jordan his own clothing and apparel line making him “an unofficial CEO” of his brand. MJ had huge plans for the brand. When asked about his vision for it, he said,
“We’d love in some point of time as the [Jordan] brand grows and proves to be successful, we separate ourselves from Nike and become more of an entity of it’s own.”
Unsurprisingly, Nike did not let its biggest cash cow become an entity of its own. 27 years on, MJ, Nike, and the Jordan Brand remain attached to the hip. Together, they changed the sports apparel business quite similar to how the iPhone did for mobile phones. Even off the court, everything Michael Jordan touched turned to gold in the 1990s. However, his brand became the biggest piece of gold.
Michael Jordan earns an eye-watering sum of money from Jordan Brand
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Less than a year after launching the Jordan Brand, Jordan walked away from the NBA for the second time. After leading the Bulls to their sixth NBA title in eight years, he announced that he wouldn’t return if head coach Phil Jackson did not. Chicago did not retain their six-time title-winning coach and lost MJ to retirement.
Per Sportac, he was the highest-paid player in the league in 1998, earning $33.1 million, $13.1 million more than the next-highest-paid player, New York Knicks’ Patrick Ewing. Walking away from over $33 million a year would’ve adversely affected any athlete’s bank balance. But not Jordan.
Those annual cheques from the Jordan Brand ensured MJ remained one of the highest-paid athletes on the planet, despite retiring from the NBA. That remains the case 26 years since his second retirement. Per reports, Jordan earns an estimated $330 million annually from Nike. That sum is nearly 2.5 times more than Forbes’ estimation of Cristiano Ronaldo’s income in 2023, whom they listed as the world’s highest-paid athlete. The Jordan Brand’s soaring revenue, which, per Forbes, hit $6.59 billion in 2023, ensures Jordan’s bank balance continues to multiply.
