Magic Johnson Opens Up About His Biggest Financial Regret

Five-time NBA legend, Magic Johnson, has had a very successful career, whether it was on the court or simply being a businessman.

In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance, Johnson opened up about one of his biggest financial regrets earlier in his career.

“I was 19 years old, just won that national championship after beating Larry Bird and I was about to sign a shoe deal. Converse came in and everyone at that time was wearing Converse because of Dr. J. So Converse came in and offered me some money. And then this guy named Phil Knight came in, and Nike was only like one or two years old. He said he doesn’t have a lot of money but will offer me stock. I was 19, didn’t know a lot. And, so the rest is history,” Johnson shared.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In 1979, Johnson denied the Nike stock and decided to sign a deal with Converse. A year later, the brand went public on December 2, 1980.

In 2003, Nike bought Converse for $305 million and currently has a $145 billion market cap and leads in sales and profits among sportswear, according to Yahoo Finance Data.

Although Johnson missed out on a huge investment opportunity, his entrepreneur portfolio is still quite impressive. Johnson is the CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, which includes restaurants, theaters, and infrastructures and is estimated to be worth $1 billion.