LeBron James Reaches Significant Net Worth Milestone, per Report

The Lakers star reportedly hit a benchmark as a businessman.

LeBron James has had a successful career both on and off the court, and the Lakers star has reached a new milestone. Forbes’s Chase Peterson-Withorn estimates that James has officially become the first-ever billionaire NBA player.

James’s net worth comes from a variety of investments, headlined by a reported $300 million in The Spring Hill Company, which holds three of James’s companies into one. Over the years, he’s also primarily invested in the Fenway Sports Group, Blaze Pizza and various real estate properties.

Along with his investments, James is the highest-paid player in NBA history, having earned over $390 million in the last 20 years as of November 2021. Since James’s contract is set to expire after next season, when he will earn $44 million, he has a chance to significantly increase his lead in that category.

In fact, between on and off-field earnings, Forbes ranks James as the second-highest paid athlete in the world after Lionel Messi.

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Despite all this fortune, James has been methodical in how he chooses to invest. According to Peterson-Withorn, James chose to invest in Blaze over McDonalds, and he turned down deals with Reebok and Adidas as an 18-year-old, which paved the way for him to sign a lifetime deal with Nike in 2015.

In 2014, James told GQ’s Terry Richardson that becoming a billionaire was a goal of his.

“If it happens. It’s my biggest milestone,” he said at the time. “Obviously. I want to maximize my business. And if I happen to get it, if I happen to be a billion-dollar athlete, ho. Hip hip hooray! Oh, my God, I’m gonna be excited.”

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