LeBron James will have made almost a half-billion dollars playing basketball by the end of 2023. But that number pales in comparison to what he’s made off the court, where he’s become one of the most marketable athletes in sports history.
Since his rookie season, LeBron has made over $700 million in endorsements alone via lucrative deals with AT&T, Beats, Blaze Pizza, GMC, PepsiCo, Walmart and super-elite luggage line Rimowa. Those endorsement deals bring in a reported $100 million per year for LeBron.
The investment with Blaze Pizza showed an especially deft touch. Less than $1 million invested in 2011 turned into $25 million by 2017, and when LeBron’s contract with McDonald’s was up, he began doing commercials for the pizza chain.
That all pales in comparison to LeBron’s most lucrative endorsement contract — a relationship with Nike that dates back to his year in the NBA.