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Hakeem Olajuwon is a former NBA player with a net worth of $300 million. Olajuwon was in his prime in 1994 and 1995 when he led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships and won the Finals MVP both years. He was not only a great player but a shrewd businessman as well.
During his impressive NBA career, Olajuwon earned $110 million in salaries. The 2000-2001 season was his highest-earning year, earning $16.7 million from the Houston Rockets. He started investing in real estate when he was still playing, preferring to buy property around Houston because he had a 'home court advantage'.
A look at how Hakeem Olajuwon built his real estate empire
One of his most notable investments was leasing out property in the World Trade Centre in 1998, the world's tallest building at the time. He sold it in 2000 for eight million dollars, a year before the tragic event.
In the year 2000, Hakeem bought the Houston Federal Reserve building and the adjacent parking lot for $4.3 million and leased it back to the fed. Four years later, Olajuwon sold the property to Medistar Corp for an undisclosed sum. Fair to assume, he made a tidy profit.
Furthermore, Olajuwon has bought other properties, a historic downtown building, which he converted into a mosque, and an abandoned shopping mall in Missouri City are among the properties that he has in his portfolio.
He also owns a slew of properties comprising parking garages, commercial buildings, homes and apartment complexes.
In 2006, four years after his retirement, Hakeem Olajuwon had about 25 investments in his name, which had balloooned to be worth over $100 million. How was he able to achieve such a feat?
Olajuwon approached real estate investments differently. Being a Muslim, his faith does not allow him to take loans as it's against the Muslim faith to pay or charge interest. While this can make acquiring properties expensive, he does not have any credit risks nor does he contend with interest rates.
In 2006 Hakeem Olajuwon bought a prime property of 41 acres near the NASA space station and turned it into a retirement home. With this purchase, his real estate investments have added up to him having a net worth of $300 million.
Hakeem Olajuwon's journey started in 1984 when he was the number one draft pick. He had an excellent rookie season, followed by a hall-of-fame career, and now he is a successful businessman.
