According to a report in May by Forbes, LeBron James (nicknamed King James) is the 4th highest-paid athlete in the world, behind 3 soccer players, Cristiano Ronaldo (1), Lionel Messi (2) and Kylian Mbappé (3).
LeBron James’ total income reached 119.5 million USD, of which 44.5 million USD is his salary from his basketball career, the remaining 75 million USD is income from advertising contracts outside the court.
Basketball billionaire LeBron James. Photo: CBS Sports.
He achieved the billionaire title in early June 2022 with a fortune of $ 1 billion, when Forbes published an article with the title “LeBron James is officially a billionaire”, while still playing basketball. This is something that no NBA player has achieved before. Legend Michael Jordan, another basketball billionaire, achieved this title more than a decade after he retired (in 2014).
“Becoming a billionaire and spending a lot of money seem to go hand in hand. But LeBron James – one of the highest-paid NBA players of all time – is determined to prove that wrong”, commented the writer of LuxuryLaunches.
Can spend money on things you like
Basketball star and billionaire King James lives in a large mansion worth 36.8 million USD in Beverly Hills (California, USA), which has a theater, tennis court, 7 fireplaces. LeBron James also has a hobby of expensive cars and fashion brands.
LeBron James’ garage is home to models from brands such as Lamborghini, Ferrari 599, Mercedes Maybach 57S… In his closet, King James keeps watch models from luxury manufacturers such as Richard Mille, Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.
Billionaire LeBron James owns many watches from luxury brands. Photo: Highsnobiety, Wrist Enthusiast, GQ Germany.
But determined to save on 3 things
However, the 39-year-old athlete can be surprisingly frugal with his money. Former basketball player Dwyane Wade once called LeBron James “the most frugal man in the NBA”.
Mobile network
The American player refuses to use phone data and only connects to the Internet when there is WiFi. Dwyane Wade said that LeBron James would say “No” to using mobile data.
Or basketball player Kevin Love once shared that when he was in Toronto (Canada), on the way from the airport to the hotel, he did not go online at all because he had no mobile data. “He was always waiting for WiFi signal.”
LeBron James has long had the goal of becoming a billionaire, and this is his biggest milestone, he told GQ in 2014. Photo: Time.
Premium packages block ads
Many people find it annoying when they are enjoying music or movies but are interrupted by ads. Therefore, to have a better experience, they often choose to buy a high-priced service package but have the feature to turn off/skip ads.
In an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in 2017, Wade revealed that LeBron James does not buy apps on mobile devices. The player also does not pay for Pandora’s ad-free online music service, even though the experience is constantly interrupted.
Upon hearing this news, Pandora offered to give him a free Premium account. Of course, LeBron James did not refuse the gift.
“He is a knowledgeable and smart person when it comes to financial matters. To me, it is amazing how mature he has shown,” billionaire Warren Buffett, famous for his thriftiness, once shared about LeBron James.
Over the years, the friendship between billionaire Warren Buffett and basketball star LeBron James has blossomed. Photo: CNBC.
Twitter Blue Check Verification Fee
When billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter, he didn’t shy away from ideas to improve the blogging platform. One of them was requiring verified accounts (with a blue check) to pay $8/month to own the coveted blue check.
While many celebrities don’t mind paying a monthly fee, LeBron has been blunt about saying that the money isn’t for him.
However, if you check King James’ personal page, you can see that he still has a blue check at the moment.
That’s because in April, The Verge confirmed that a Twitter employee emailed LeBron James to “renew a free Twitter Blue subscription for @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.” The site also reported that LeBron James’ longtime communications advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, confirmed that the player had not paid for the blue tick.
After The Verge published this information, Elon Musk also said that he was the one who paid for LeBron James’ blue tick with the hidden status line: “I am paying some individuals”. About an hour later, billionaire Elon Musk bluntly stated that King James was one of these individuals.
