LeBron James has apparently added yet another first to his distinguished career.
The King has surpassed a cool billion dollars in combined career earnings between salary, endorsements, and other business ventures, the sports business website Sportico reported on Thursday.
In amassing his fortune while still active, James has become the league's first player to rake in a billion or more, the report said.
The four-time NBA MVP collects over $100M annually in endorsement and merchandising deals alone, the article said, from partners such as AT&T, Beats, Nike, Pepsi and Walmart. His annual salary has exceeded $30M since 2016-17, and will exceed $40M for the upcoming season and the one after.
Overall, about 30% of James' earnings have come from his salary, according to the article, while the rest was from other business. He's not a billionaire in the sense that his net worth is less than that, the report clarified, but he has made at least a billion to date.
Meanwhile the new "Space Jam" movie starring James was recently released in theaters, and was performing well at the box office despite tepid reviews. He also has part stakes in Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, as well as the English Premier League soccer team Liverpool FC.
In terms of basketball fortunes, however, James still has a ways to go to catch Michael Jordan, who is said to be worth around $2B.
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