Listing Magic Johnson's Top 5 assets and investments as he achieves billionaire status

Magic Johnson just became the fourth professional athlete to become a billionaire, behind Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Tiger Woods. The Los Angeles Lakers legend is worth $1.2 billion owing to his investments and his real-state company, Johnson Development Corporation.

Today, the former athlete is one of the biggest businessmen in the world. He has small stakes in the NFL’s Washington Commanders, MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and the MLS’s LAFC. Johnson also has investments in fast food, theaters, real estate and life insurance that add to his large wealth.

Johnson has investments in a large number of areas and companies. Here is the list of the top 5 assets and investments that Magic has.

Top 5 assets and investments of Magic Johnson

#1 EquiTrust

EquiTrust has grown to become the largest asset in Magic Johnson Enterprises, where Johnson is a majority owner.

Established in 1996, the life insurance company has assets in billions. Since Magic took over the company, he has helped its assets grow from $16 billion to $26 billion. The company now generates revenue of over $2.6 billion.

#2 Starbucks

During the period that Magic was establishing movie theaters in black communities, he was also eyeing expanding his business. He invited then-CEO of Starbucks Coffee, Howard Schultz, to his Baldwin Hills theater.

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After screening Whitney Houston’s Waiting to Exhale, Johnson convinced Schultz about the spending power of black Americans.

Just three years later, in 1998, Starbucks and Magic Johnson started a joint venture. In a 50-50 joint endeavor, Starbucks opened 100 coffee shops across black communities.

After the initial success, Starbucks allowed Magic to take a loan from the company itself. After repaying the loan in 2010, the Lakers legend sold the locations for a massive $75 million profit.

#3 Movie Theatre

In 1994, Magic Johnson pitched the idea of opening a movie theater in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Magic always had the charisma to convince people, as he did convince Guber, then CEO of Sony Pictures.

Despite the neighborhood struggling with gun violence, Guber’s Loews movie theater chain agreed to a 50/50 partnership.

Johnson met with Crips and Bloods (gang) representatives to declare the theater a non-violent territory.

After six years in business, the theater became one of the top-grossing theaters in the country and produced $5 million in ticket sales.

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Magic then expanded the theater chain and added it to black communities across Atlanta, Houston, Washington, D.C. and New York City. He sold all his theaters to Loews in 2004 for a whopping profit.

#4 Fast Food

In 2004, Magic Johnson’s company announced that it would be buying 30 Burger King locations in different parts of the country. The places include Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Florida. In his statement, Johnson said that he expects to create more jobs and strengthen the minority contractors in the cities.

The reports by FranchiseWire suggested that when Johnson’s Burger King was established in backward communities, sales in those areas increased by 20%. It is quite obvious that the celebrity status of Magic played a heavy part in this.

#5 Sports Teams

Johnson knows the profit that sports teams can bring and investing in a sports team was just a brilliant idea from the 5-time NBA Champion. In 1004, he started by owning a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, which he sold in 2004. He has recently invested $247 million in NFL’s Washington Commanders.

He also has investments in the WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks, the MLS’s LAFC and MLB team Los Angeles Dodgers, bringing him millions in profit.