Magic Johnson isn’t just your usual NBA player. He was quickly recognized as one of the greatest point guards to ever suit up. Sadly, his career was shortened due to his battle with Aids. Still, it didn’t stop him from pursuing what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He quickly became a very successful entrepreneur and that’s known by all the investments he has made along the way.
How Much Does Magic Johnson Own? It feels like Magic Johnson has a bit of everything. He owns his own investment company called Magic Johnson Enterprise along with several ownership stakes in professional sports franchises like the Los Angeles Dodgers for example. To top it all off, his investment company has been able to partner with popular franchises such as Burger King to open restaurants and other properties of their own.
Magic Johnson owns a whole lot more than it may seem at first glance. So much so, that his playing career is only a part of the many accomplishments and titles Magic Johnson has taken ownership of in his illustrious life.
Magic Johnson Enterprises
The first thing we must talk about is Magic Johnson Enterprises. This is without a doubt his most successful business venture as it has opened the door to so many other things. This company was founded by Johnson and has continued to invest in franchises across the world. Johnson used this company to convince the Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to partner up with him and help expand their brand further. Once he was able to do just that, Schultz and Johnson worked together to launch 105 Starbucks stores across the world. Shortly after that, Johnson worked with Burger King like we mentioned earlier. They were able to open 31 restaurants in the Southeast region once doing so. We can’t forget about the 13 different 24-Hour Fitness establishments that Johnson Enterprises was able to get going either. Now, he no longer owns any of the Starbucks properties anymore because he sold them all back, but the fact that he had owned that many at one point was worth mentioning here. Before we move onto this next subject, there are a few subsidiaries in this company that we haven’t covered. The first is something called Magic Johnson Productions. It is more of a promotional company from what I’ve gathered. Then there is Magic Johnson Theatres. This is a large worldwide chain of movie theatres that Magic Johnson himself owns. Remember he had to convince Schultz to partner with him? Yeah, well he was able to accomplish that by bringing him to one of his many movie theatres. We could also throw on what he calls the Magic Card. This is a pre-paid MasterCard that is supposed to help low-income families to save money. It isn’t a property or business, but the card is named after him so it should count as him owning it. Then finally, we have Magic Johnson Entertainment. This is his very own film studio.
Professional Sports World
Magic Johnson may have left the NBA, but professional sports have never left his sights. Despite not being able to play, he has found opportunities elsewhere. Back in 2012, Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners were able to get together and place a massive $2 billion bid on the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB team. They ended up getting selected as the winner of the bidding war and Johnson hence became one of the owners of it. He is considered the leader of the ownership group, though some say that Mark Walter is the organization’s controlling owner. Johnson liked the taste of owning his first franchise, so he then went on to be involved in the purchase of the Los Angeles Sparks, a WNBA team. In between those two ownerships, Johnson did own the Dayton Dragons at one point. They are a Class-A Minor League Baseball team, though Johnson doesn’t currently hold a stake in the franchise anymore. Like the Dragons, Johnson held a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers as well. Though, just like the Dragons, he sold it back and no longer owns any part of it. Then finally, Johnson picked up a co-ownership role in the Los Angeles Football Club, a team that was created after a Major League Soccer expansion went to Los Angeles. I think it’s safe to say that Johnson loves to be involved with the professional sports communities and is likely to keep on pursuing ownership opportunities when they pop up for him.
Magic also held and still holds countless other properties around the world. For example, he was able to be part of the team that bought the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower for $71 million. They were then able to convert this building into a very large office building. Johnson then went on to buy a large interest in a PepsiCO bottling operation in Washington, DC, making it the largest minority-owned Pepsi facility in the United States. Don’t worry, there is still more left to cover. Magic went on to fulfill a plan of his to acquire controlling interest in something called EquiTrust Life Insurance. They are a company which manages about $14.5 billion in life insurance and other annuities. Now let’s move into some of the broader Magic Johnson owned endeavors. Johnson was able to own his own late night talk show on Fox called The Magic Hour. It only lasted two months but how many other people can say that they held onto their own show before? He took that experience and went into music, as random as it may sound. Johnson created something that he called Magic 32 Records. It was his very own record label. After a while he decided that he wanted a rebrand, so he went with Magic Johnson Music instead. They even signed Avant as their first act and worked with Janet Jackson.