Since entering the NBA in 2003, Los Angeles Lakers superstar and four-time league MVP LeBron James has built himself an empire of endorsements, sponsorships, big contracts, investments and equity deals. All of that has led to LeBron James having a net worth of $1 billion.
Throughout his lengthy NBA career, James has seen his net worth skyrocket. In the last few years, King James has been one of the world’s highest-paid athletes. In this post, we’re going to look at LeBron James’ net worth in 2023 right after LeBron broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record.
LeBron James’ net worth in 2023 (estimate): $1 billion
In 2022, LeBron James became the first active NBA player to join the billionaire club, with his net worth now sitting at $1 billion, according to Forbes. Back in 2014, The King told GQ that becoming a billionaire was a longtime goal of his:
“It’s my biggest milestone. Obviously. I want to maximize my business. And if I happen to get it, if I happen to be a billion-dollar athlete, ho. Hip hip hooray! Oh, my God, I’m gonna be excited.”
This news dropped after he came in at No. 4 in the world on Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes in 2023, behind only international soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappé. LeBron made $44.5 million via his contract with the Lakers, with another $75 million coming from off-the-court earnings.
LeBron James’ earnings from endorsements
James has a lifetime deal with Nike that’s allegedly worth over $1 billion, among many other deals. He left Coca-Cola for PepsiCo in 2021 after spending his entire NBA career with the former and has deals with AT&T and Walmart.
In January 2022, he announced a deal with Crypto.com (they hold the new naming rights to the building formerly known as Staples Center) and appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for them. James is a partner of Blaze Pizza and has invested in companies such as Beats by Dre, Tonal, Lyft and StatusPRO as well.
LeBron James’ investments
An entrepreneur himself, James teamed up with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2018 to launch Ladder, a health and wellness company, which was acquired by Beachbody in 2020. James also helped start his own production company called SpringHill Entertainment and the media company Uninterrupted, which is behind The Shop. The talk show started on HBO and has since moved to YouTube. These two companies, along with James’ Robot Company marketing agency, got rolled into The SpringHill Company in 2020.
In 2021, SpringHill released the long-anticipated sequel to 1996’s Space Jam, which starred former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan. The LeBron-led film made nearly $163 million worldwide. In October 2021, LeBron sold a significant minority stake in SpringHill worth $750 million, but he’s still the majority shareholder.
SpringHill produced the House Party remake in 2023, with the plot centering around a party at LeBron’s mansion. At one point, LeBron’s mansion was valued at $23 million. Hopefully, he cleared any filming in his mansion with his wife, Savannah Brinson.
Furthermore, James first dabbled into sports ownership in 2011 by purchasing a minority stake in Liverpool F.C. of the Premier League via partnership with the Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park and the Pittsburgh Penguins, among other things. In 2021, LeBron exchanged the Liverpool stake for part ownership of FSG.
All of this obviously helps LeBron James’ net worth in 2023. This number is likely to grow exponentially as time goes on given his impressive portfolio.
LeBron James’ earnings from NBA contracts
In terms of contracts over his career, James made $169,884,342 in 11 seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, $64,008,659 in four seasons with the Miami Heat and $153,491,118 in four completed seasons with Los Angeles. We can tack on $44,474,988 for 2022-23, bringing the total to $431,859,107 after this season. He also signed a contract extension in 2022 worth $97,133,373 over two seasons, which will bring his total to nearly $530 million after the 2024-25 season.
While James is now 38 years old, he’s still playing at a high level for the most glamorous franchise in the NBA. The Lakers may have missed the playoffs in 2021-22 and continue to struggle in 2022-23, but they’re still the Lakers. Being in Hollywood will only continue to help LeBron build his empire, and he hopes to be the majority owner of a professional sports team at some point in the future. As his net worth continues to rise, it wouldn’t surprise anybody if that comes to fruition, and he’ll surely play a role with Klutch once his playing days are over.
In addition to everything else, LeBron is the owner of plenty of valuable property while also having gobs of money in cash and other investments. Forbes has an impressive breakdown of LeBron James’ net worth.
And, of course, we must also bring up the LeBron James Family Foundation and all the work they do, including the creation of the I Promise School.
Knowing everything you know about the Lakers superstar, were you at all stunned by LeBron James’ net worth in 2023 after he became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer?
