Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is one of the most successful NBA players in history both on and off the court. With an estimated net worth of $450 million as of early 2020, the four-time NBA champion has successfully leveraged his skills and celebrity to build a vast empire spanning multiple industries.
Although it is unclear how much total James made in 2020, Forbes estimated that he went home with $89 million in 2019.
Prior to landing in LA, amassed nearly $170 million over the course of 11 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and $64 million in four seasons with the Miami Heat. In 2018, James signed a four-year, $153 million with the Lakers.
Over the last two years James has taken home $73 million from the Lakers, earning $35.6 million in 2018-19 and $37.4 million in 2019-20. Next season he is due to make $39 million – which would give him the sixth highest salary in the NBA behind Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Russell Westbrook of the Houston Rockets, Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns, James Harden of the Rockets and John Wall of the Washington Wizards.
Of course, James’ income isn’t strictly limited to the money he makes for playing basketball. In 2019 alone the Lakers star made $53 million off endorsements.
Considering how long he has been in the spotlight, and given the fact that he has been rolling in sponsorship deals since first arriving on the scene, it’s easy to see that he has made a massive fortune off his commercials and advertisements alone.
Yikes LeBron. https://t.co/EXINAEaMp0
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 24, 2020
In 2003 James initially signed a deal with Nike for $93 million over seven years. When that contract expired, he signed a new agreement with the company that will reportedly pay him $1 billion when it’s all said and done.
Aside from Nike, James has also worked with Coca-Cola, Beats By Dre, KIA Motors, NBA2K, McDonald’s, State Farm, Microsoft, Verizon, Samsung and the Calm app.
James famously invested less than a million dollars in Blaze Pizza back before anyone had ever heard of it for a roughly 10 percent stake.
Fans noticed something interesting about Doris Burke in #NBA2K21 https://t.co/5q58jCibFN
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 23, 2020
Between 2012 and 2017, James’ initial contribution grew to a $35 million investment. By 2020, he owned at least 19 Blaze franchises.
Beyond just investing in other people’s companies, James has also launched several of his own.
Back in 2018 he and a bunch of other celebrities came together to launch Ladder, a health and wellness organization. James also created his very own production company called SpringHill Entertainment and media company Uninterrupted.
Paulina Gretzky has taken Masters victory celebrations to a new level. https://t.co/K1yliTiGao
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 22, 2020
SpringHill Entertainment is behind the 2021 sequel to Space Jam, which James will also star in. The movie is expected to be an absolute monster that will undoubtedly add to James’ net worth in a pretty substantial way.
Because the 2020 net worth numbers are not officially out, it is unclear at this juncture whether James is a billionaire. There is a very good chance that he either is or is extremely close to it, but it won’t be confirmed until 2021.
Either way, it’s clear that the Lakers star is doing very well for himself.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
