Lebron James Net Worth

LeBron James made a big transformation from a talented but poor teenager to a sports star and businessman. You know him as a gifted basketball player, whose fees are unbelievably high. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. His net worth is not just the result of his super big salary, but also includes his smart investments in startups, lucrative endorsement deals, and running his company “LRMR Ventures”. Let’s have a closer look at LeBron’s net worth and the way he accumulated it. 

In June 2022 “Forbes” officially announced LeBron James as a billionaire. He became the first active basketball player to reach such a financial height! LeBron’s salary per year is close to $121 million (according to Forbes), which is an astonishing amount!
The NBA star’s success is even more incredible if you take into consideration the fact, that he was unbelievably poor in his childhood. His mother was just 16 when she had him. The boy had never met his biological father. His mother rented a room for $17 per month! And in 2022 LeBron’s net worth per game was around $469, 000!

Many fans are curious, “What is the salary of LeBron James?” He gets his salary from multiple sources. The basketball icon earns part of his income from his NBA contracts. Then, he runs a successful production company. Finally, he is involved in several high-paid endorsement deals. LeBron James salary per year is different and it depends on his success on the court. In 2022, LeBron James’ salary per game was close to $115, 000. So, LeBron James’ net worth per minute is approximately $60, 000! Just imagine, he makes per minute the annual salary of an average man in the USA.

LeBron James’ salary is unbelievably huge! That’s why, nowadays he works rather for pleasure than for money. Let’s have a closer look at his earnings and achievements in various kinds of activity!

What is LeBron James’ net worth per game? Nowadays it’s close to $115, 000. LeBron’s annual income from his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers is close to $44, 5 million according to Forbes. James LeBron’s salary per week is around $2, 3 million. It’s a great amount nowadays! Of course, his salary was ten times lower at the beginning of his NBA career in 2003. Still, that was a great amount for a boy, who was raised by a single mother. Let’s learn how it all started!е

During many years of his career, LeBron played for three basketball teams. As a teenager, he signed his first deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his hometown team. Then, he played for the Miami Heat, which boosted his career. Nowadays he plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. Each next time LeBron James’ contract was more favorable for him.

• LeBron James’ contract with the Cavaliers

LeBron started his career in the NBA immediately after his prom. He omitted such an important stage in the life of any average person as a college education. That was a challenging step for LeBron, but it exceeded all the expectations. The teenager from a poor family, who grew up in a troubled neighborhood, was signed during the first draft by the Cavs. His four-year contract cost around $20 million. That amount was extremely big for LeBron, still, he was worth every penny. After the contract expired, the deal was continued for $60 million for another 4 years. Thus, LeBron’s annual salary reached $15 million per year.

James’s play for the Cavs was great, and he led the team to multiple victories. But he reached his professional “ceiling” with his hometown team quite fast. He led the Cavs to several third and second places in the important contests. But he dreamed of becoming the Champion. So, in 2010 he was looking for bigger career opportunities as a free agent. And he found them.

• LeBron James’ contact with the Heat

LeBron James’ contact with the Heat was supposed to last 6 years. According to this deal, the stellar athlete James had to earn $110.1 million, but he earned just $60 million from them and then left the team two years before the deal’s end. LeBron used his right to opt for the last two years of the deal after a string of the team’s losses. During his four seasons with the Heat, he went to the play-off games four times, won the championship twice, and earned NBA Finals MVP titles.

• LeBron James contract Lakers

LeBron’s moving all his business interests to Los Angeles in 2018 was considered as the logical step for people, who knew him well. He was signed by the Lakers in 2018. Due to this deal, LeBron earned $154 million during 4 years. In 2022 James’s contract with the Lakers was extended for 2 years. He is supposed to earn an astonishing $97 million!

Like a talented business mogul, LeBron had a backup plan long before the end of his sports career. Outside the basketball court James has another passion – the media business. So, he made part of his enormous net worth through creating movies and TV shows.

His first media project was the animated series “The LeBrons”. They were based on some of Nike’s TV commercials, and their main aim was “to empower young adults”. Although the cartoons didn’t have any significant success with the public, that was just the beginning of LeBron’s media journey.

With some of his close friends, he co-founded the production company “SpringHill”, which stands behind many famous video projects. Some of them are connected with LeBron’s personality, while others are independent from him.

Although James’s face is one of the most recognizable on the planet, he doesn’t have any serious acting ambitions. He worked on some movies and TV series as an executive producer. One of his first TV projects was the series “Survivor’s Remorse”. The comedy-drama show was broadcast by the cable network “Starz” in 2014-2017. The show was on air for four seasons, and it contributed to LeBron’s net worth. He even briefly appeared as himself in one of the episodes.

In 2020 James produced the biography series “Madam C.J. Walker” about a woman, who created her own cosmetics empire. Then, he contributed as a producer and actor to the big-screen animated movie “Space Jam: A New Legacy”, where he was surrounded by toons.

Although LeBron’s salary per year as an executive producer and actor is not publicized, surely, it is impressive. The company “SpringHill”, which James co-owns with a friend Maverick Carter, earned $100 million in 2021. Its earnings became even bigger – $150+ million – in 2022.

James LeBron is not just a talented basketball player, but he is also a smart businessman. During his super-long NBA career, he endorsed several famous brands, such as: 

• Nike

• McDonald’s

• State Farm

• Coca Cola

• VitaminWater

• Samsung

• Audemars Piguet

• Walmart

• PepsiCo

• Dunkin’ Donuts

• Progressive Insurance

“Forbes” estimates LeBron’s income from his endorsement deals as $900 million per year. The decorated player earns such an amount easily, working just several days annually. His first multi-million deal with Nike he signed being in a high school. 

LeBron James contract Nike is considered as one of the most lucrative the young athlete has ever signed. Then, James was a school graduate, but 3 famous sportswear companies – Nike, Reebok, and Adidas – were chasing him to sign him for millions of dollars. He chose Nike as the brand, which was advertised by his idol – Michael Jordan. The teenager LeBron signed with Nike a 7-year deal, which was estimated at $87 million. He has been working with Nike successfully till now. 

LeBron James would have never become a billionaire if he hadn’t made several investments, which returned to him with millions of dollars. He took the equity in many brands he used to advertise. Let’s have a look at the most lucrative from them.

• Investments into the Blaze Pizza chain

After the end of his $15 million deal with McDonald’s, he decided to invest in the startup Blaze Pizza chain. With him, some other celebrities supported the new brand, including Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger. Nowadays, Blaze Pizza brings LeBron millions of dollars per year.

• Investments in Beats by Dre

He invested in the brand, which produced headphones, Beats by Dre in 2008. LeBron was a “silent investor’ and was supposed to earn just $30 million from this deal. But his earnings from Beats by Dre reached an astonishing $700 million.

We’ve told you about the main sources of LeBron’s income, which helped him to cross the $1 billionaire mark. He couldn’t even dream about it in his youth.

• Earnings from party visiting

As a teen star, LeBron made money as a young celebrity. He attended parties in the nightclubs, for which the owners paid him hundreds of dollars per evening.

• LRMR Marketing
• In the company of friends, LeBron founded the marketing agency, whose aim was to support careers of the young athletes. The company has existed till now and brings the basketball player a huge income.

How Does LeBron James Spend His Money?

Ironically, James LeBron doesn’t have too much time to enjoy spending his money.

• For luxury goods
  In his interviews, he used to say, that he likes to spend cash for luxury vacations with his wife Savannah James, and their three kids.
  He also bought the $21 million mansion in Brantford for his wife and kids, when they decided to move to Los Angeles.
  Besides, LeBron is the owner of several luxurious vehicles, including Porsche and Ferrari Testarossa.
• For charity
  LeBron spent more than $40 million to open schools for kids from troubled families. He is involved in a string of charity projects, most of which are targeted at young talented people.