Suppress Zhan Ku with one person! The most expensive athlete! His historical status cannot be shaken!

In this era when traffic is king, most people may think that the current top stars are the most valuable existence. But for Michael Jordan, he is a special existence, a true legend, and even after he retires for 20 years, he can still beat everything.

According to statistics from Forbes and other media, Jordan's total revenue in 2024 exceeded US$300 million, once again becoming the highest-paid athlete in the world. Compared with his cumulative salary of $93.7 million in professional career, this number is as much as three times his entire career income. It is particularly worth mentioning that this number directly exceeds the total of Curry and James, with Curry at 156 million and James at 134 million.

In 1984, Jordan, who was still a rookie, signed a contract with a starting salary of only $500,000. But this contract has an additional clause: a 5% commission on sales per pair of sneakers.

In the sports circle at that time, this was definitely a rather adventurous choice. But in the end, Jordan's Air Jordan series directly ignited the sneaker market. By 2023, the Jordan brand has generated nearly $7 billion in revenue for Nike. Based on the commission of 4%-5%, Jordan easily earned $260 million to $280 million from 2023 to 2024 based on this item alone.

In addition, the Jordan brand has long been more than limited to the basketball field. Gradually penetrated into fashion, football and even global trend culture. The cooperation with Paris Saint-Germain has allowed Jordan LOGO to appear in the world football world. Signing new generation stars such as Doncic, Tatum, and Zion continues to maintain the subsequent influence of the brand.

Simply put, although Jordan no longer plays, his brand value is still spoken around the world. Even if the young men wearing Jordan sneakers haven't seen him play, they know the meaning behind the brand.

Unlike many stars, Jordan was not satisfied with the model of earning endorsement fees for filming advertisements. What he values more is ownership and equity dividends. He is a long-term partner of brands such as Gatorade, UpperDeck, 2K Sports, and co-owner of NASCAR Racing. In addition, he owns several restaurants and car dealers.

These seemingly inconspicuous side businesses brought Jordan $20 million to $40 million in 2024. In 2010, he bought most of the team's equity for $175 million. In 2023, he sold his controlling stake at a valuation of $3 billion. Even if he did not withdraw completely and was only partially transferred, Jordan made at least a net profit of US$200 million to US$250 million. This transaction is not even included in his total revenue statistics in 2024.

Comprehensive all revenue and assets, Jordan's current net worth has reached US$3.5 billion, ranking 1045th on the 2025 Forbes Global Billionaire List. Although the ranking has declined slightly from the peak, considering that he has been away from the arena for many years, such achievements are still quite outstanding.

And behind all this is not only his once unparalleled football skills, but also his business vision. Just like what the outside world often says about Jordan: he not only changed basketball, but also changed the sports industry itself.

And when we are talking about the legend of Jordan, we might as well remember one thing: he is not only the flying No. 23, but also a super winner who has been retired for many years and can also regard the whole world as a business field.