LeBron James has become the second athlete ever to be worth $1billion.
The 37-year-old follows fellow NBA great Michael Jordan in being valued at 10 figures, according to Forbes.
However, James has done it while still an active player.
Jordan, 59, was not valued at $1billion until 2014, 11 years after retired and became an investor in the league’s Charlotte Hornets.
For LeBron, his billionaire status comes largely from his investments. He owns pieces of a production company, franchises across three different sports, pizza chains, headphones and several other products.
James made a little over $41million for the 2021-22 season, making him only the sixth-highest paid player in the NBA, with Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry topping the chart at over $45million, according to ESPN.
In fact, James is only the second-highest compensated athlete in the world between salary and endorsements with $121.2million, beaten out by PSG and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, who raked in $130million.
However, the investment game is where LeBron has made enough money to dwarf the likes of Tiger Woods, Messi, Magic Johnson and Floyd Mayweather
James’ total earnings from his nearly two-decade basketball career has netted him about $1.2billion in pretax earnings, $385million of it from his playing salary.