By the early 2000s, Michael Jordan was well on the path to becoming a billionaire, with his Jordan brand already worth $500,000,000 at that time. However, never in his wildest dreams had he imagined himself to be this wealthy and successful in terms of business and money. In an interview from the early 2000s, posted by Business in Reels on Instagram, Jordan was asked if he ever imagined himself to be in the position he was back then.

Marveling Over His $500 Million Brand, Michael Jordan Admitted He Never Dreamed of What His Life Became in the Early 2000s

Michael Jordan and Air Jordan Shoes. Credits: Imago

The six-time NBA champion reflected pure honesty in his answer and said he always dreamed of being special as a kid. Indeed, Jordan had paved the way for several ballers of the new generation to dream high and aspire to become greats. In that way, MJ definitely lived up to his childhood dream of becoming special and achieving the unthinkable.

Michael Jordan was marveled by the life he was leading in the early 2000s

The young 18-year-old from North Carolina, Michael Jordan, never would have thought he would become a billionaire, 30 years after his NBA draft. In an interview, presumably from the early 2000s, judging by the brand’s worth, Jordan was marveled to realize the successes he had achieved, both in his career and financially.

As a child, Jordan never imagined the opportunities that were coming his way as an athlete. When the interviewer asked Jordan if he ever dreamed of being in his current state of financial success, MJ had the most perfect answer that reflected his honesty.

“No. The only thing I could ever imagine when I was a kid, like any of these kids here, or any kids that I have seen, that one day I want to be special. I just want to be successful. And I knew it was sports for me. Football, baseball, basketball, it was gotta be something in sports, that was me. And to some kids, maybe something else. But I woke up saying that I’m gonna be a good athlete, a great athlete, somewhere.” 

By the end of his basketball career in 2003, MJ had established an estimated net worth of around $350,000,000. He made around $94,000,000 from his career earnings and had other extra sources of income, primarily from the then $500,000,000 Jordan brand and other business endorsements.

Michael Jordan became a part of the Forbes 400 list in 2023

By the year 2014, Jordan was the first basketball superstar to become a billionaire at the age of 51. Currently, Jordan’s net worth stands at a whopping $3 billion, after recently selling his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets. This eventually made him the first athlete to appear in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

In 2010, Jordan bought a majority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats for a price of $275,000,000. This made him the league’s lone Black majority owner and the best former NBA superstar to own a team.

In 2023, the team was sold to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for an approximate $3 billion valuation, thus ending Jordan’s 13-year reign as the Hornets’ owner.