Michael Jordan is worth an obscene amount of money, as his current net worth is $2.1 billion. Not many current or former athletes can say they’re billionaires. By comparison, LeBron James’ net worth is $450 million.
Jordan knows he’s filthy rich, too, because according to his former agent, David Falk, he once turned down $100 million just to make an appearance at an event for two hours. Now that’s a man who has his priorities in check.
Falk spoke about his former client as someone who did everything he could to stay out of the limelight post-career. And that includes interviews and events because really, who has the time to collect $100 million? Not Jordan, apparently.
“I brought him a deal three years ago for $100 million. All he had to do was, other than giving his name and likeness, make a one two-hour appearance to announce the deal and he turned it down,” said Falk.
Falk went on to talk about Jordan having the luxury of turning down lucrative paydays and how he respected the former six-time champion for that.
“God bless him. He’s been so successful, it gives him an opportunity to do whatever the hell he wants or not to do things he doesn’t want. I really admire that. He’s very, very selective in the things he wants to be involved in.”
The current Charlotte Hornets owner is back in the news because ESPN is currently airing The Last Dance, a 10-part docuseries on the 1997-98 season for the Chicago Bulls that proved to be the last in the windy city for Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and coach Phil Jackson.
With no sports to watch, The Last Dance has become must-see television every Sunday night. The first four episodes have already aired, with six more to go over the next three weeks. So far, the doc has covered Jordan, Pippen and Rodman, with a bit about Jackson thrown in as well.
For those who don’t know, the ‘98 team agreed to have a camera crew follow them around for the season to document their last run together. The only condition was that Jordan would own the rights, which meant it was his call whether anyone would ever get to see the footage. Cut to nearly 20 years later, and he finally allowed the footage to be used for the docuseries.
The ratings have been tremendous and who knows how much Michael Jordan will make off of this. But then again, he could probably care less. If $100 million is nothing to him, then the gross from this series certainly isn’t significant, either.
