Aside from being the NBA’s top scorer and highest-paid player, LeBron James can add another significant accomplishment to his list—becoming the first active athlete billionaire.
Key Details
- LeBron James has reached the milestone of being the first active billionaire athlete, with Forbes estimating his net worth to be around $1.3 billion.
- Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan are the only other athletes to reach billionaire status—and neither of them are fully active in their respective sports.
- James’s high-paying athlete salary, real estate, deals, and stakes in SpringHill, Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC owner Fenway Sports Group, and Blaze Pizza have all attributed to his billionaire status.
- Yesterday, James became the highest-scoring professional basketball player in history, topping the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabar, with 38,387 points.
Why it’s news
LeBron James is argued to be one of the best basketball players of all time, and it is no surprise with the number of accomplishments he has had in his career. Along with being the NBA’s top scorer and highest-paid player, he is now the first active athlete billionaire.
James recently surpassed basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. The record stood at 37,387 points for nearly 40 years before James was able to pass it.
“To be able to be in the presence of such a legend and great as Kareem means so much to me; it’s very humbling,” he says.
He is also ranked number one on Forbes’s highest-paid NBA players list, with expected total earnings of $124.5 million before taxes and agents fees for the 2022-23 season. Along with his high paying salary, he also has many deals outside of basketball that add up to nearly $80 million.
Forbes estimates his pre-tax wealth to be around $1.3 billion, making him the first active athlete billionaire.
“38,388 Points 0 Morals 0 Values 0 Principles 0 Empathy 1 Bow Down to #China,” NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom tweeted, referring to a common criticism of James—that he refused to stand up for protesters in Hong Kong for fear of being censored by the Chinese government.