LeBron James’ Business Model: Owning The Value Chain

This is the story of how LeBron James went from the projects of Akron, Ohio, to developing the strongest athlete value chain in all of sports.
Shout out to Matthew for helping us with the script and research!
🔔 Subscribe for more: bit.ly/2ya7wUi
🧡 Support Athletic Interest videos: / athleticinterest
⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:52 High School Days
03:45 Partnerships over Endorsements
06:56 Bronnywood & Vertical Integration
09:20 The Future?
🎬 About
Athletic Interest is a video essay series that investigates business stories from the world of sports.
✅ Follow
Patreon: / athleticinterest
Email list: athleticinterest.substack.com
Instagram: / athleticinterest
🍿 Watch more
Most popular: bit.ly/36ZZ3Qe
Latest video: bit.ly/2MpsDW6
🎓 Sources
Atkins, H. (2015). LeBron James Signs Largest Deal in Nike History. Forbes. [online]. Available from: www.forbes.com/sites/hunterat....
Badenhausen, K. (2017). LeBron James-Backed Blaze Pizza Is Fastest-Growing Restaurant Chain Ever. Forbes. [online]. Available from: www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbade....
Blasi, W. (2019). When LeBron James chose Nike in 2003, he gave up $28 million - it could end up making him $1 billion. MarketWatch. [online]. Available from: www.marketwatch.com/story/whe....
Kelly, J. (2020). LeBron James, Maverick Carter's SpringHill to Be a Media Empire. Bloomberg.com. [online]. Available from: www.bloomberg.com/news/featur....
Anon. Prospect Profile: LeBron James. NBA.com. [online]. Available from: archive.nba.com/draft2003/prof....
Rovell, D. (2005). LeBron fires agents, possibly in favor of friend. ESPN. [online]. Available from: www.espn.com/nba/news/story?i....
Sullivan, G. (2014). Report: LeBron James set for $30 million profit on Apple-Beats deal. The Washington Post. [online]. Available from: www.washingtonpost.com/news/m....
WINDHORST, B.R.I.A.N. (2020). LEBRON, INC.: the making of a billion-dollar athlete. GRAND CENTRAL PUB.
#lebron #nba #lakers

[@rich45davis]

"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man"

[@derrick5575]

Jayz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@JT-mu6xj]

So lemme handle my business, damn!!

[@OzcraftINC]

@ismail adam China is currently commenting an ethnic genocide, they have a dystopian social credit system and don't allow their citizens to vote so yeah I'd say it's worse than America

[@icemike1]

Clever

[@williamfrohne6646]

COYI ⚒

[@wuchstfinger930]

I would be really interested in a video about Lewis Hamilton and how he makes all that money apart from motor sport. He seems to be the driver who is by far the most engaged in making money outside of the sport with Hilfiger and so on.

[@MudhaffarAdhwa]

Would be dope

[@usernamenotwrittenoutoflaz9865]

He is maybe also the most dominant athlete in the last decade in his sport

[@desroywhite]

That's a great video idea

[@irjunior540]

Same with Ronaldo and Messi

[@Hans.Dewitt]

@@usernamenotwrittenoutoflaz9865 yeah but in F1 there are a lot more external factors (like how good your car is) that determine a driver's success aside from just talent, quite different from sports like football or basketball

[@wee3609]

I like how you focus on all different sports and make interesting videos every single time. Unsurpassed sports content

[@Anindyatejo]

This man is not an athlete. He's a phenomenon. He's really excellent at what he does. Granted not everyone are his fans, but he really inspire people.

[@Bean-vj1lf]

Inspire ppl to do what dribble a basketball? Or to join an all male fraternity that practices sacrifice na he only inspires sheep like you

[@Anindyatejo]

@@Bean-vj1lf said the sheep itself

[@thelosersside5622]

Not a LeBron fan but imo he is one of the best players that have ever played

[@hedilow3247]

@@Bean-vj1lf clearly what he said flew over your head get a life man

[@inigobantok1579]

@@Bean-vj1lf he does not just dribble you dumb f I bet you don't even watch bball he's an all around player a passer scorer

[@martonkopp5881]

Have this feeling that he's going to own the Cavs one day 👀

[@gabrielscariot]

@not sure the Cavs means way more for him, it's more likely to be sold, it's cheaper and Lebron kind of IS the cavs in terms of team success

[@alichaudhry8609]

not sure there’s no way lebron becomes the majority owner of the lakers

[@fmdf4589]

same, like how North Carolina native MJ bought the hornets

[@shardulburde]

The raptors you mean

[@ScathingMobile]

With his net worth, he might own all of Cleveland one day.

[@walkerwayz5039]

I think this is where some of the resentment comes from other former players, agents and people. Lebron has always bet on himself and took huge risks to build his empire his way from the ground up. He didn't just his bring his boyhood friends along for the ride, he made a path for each one of them to be successful on their own and has never been afraid to speak his mind about social issues unlike some other athletes. Instead of admiring what he's done they try to minimize his greatness and his legacy. That's fine because he will just keep proving the haters wrong as usual.

[@agett12]

If you don't have haters you're doing it wrong

[@gadhoumeadem3261]

lebron will be truly appreciated only after he retire

[@pwyll63627]

Bruh nobody give a fuck about "haters" if ur a billionaire, who cares about these nobodies in twitter.

[@RasecM95]

Not only a freak in the sport but also as a businessman, what an inspiration you make not like him but he is on a whole other level, the liverpool deal literally reaped so many benefits it’s crazy

[@eyewatch2see77]

@cesar mendoza ALL the things mentioned in this video *IS* why THEY don't like Lebron .. and of course because Lebron's on a whole other level "on AND "off" the court (which also includes *a life* with NO moral or legal wrong doings) ... the more Lebron achieves and the better Lebron does > the more hate he receives (remind you of anyone?) yep > THE CHOSEN ONE

[@INoticeTooMuch1]

Lmao Lebron isn’t making these decisions for himself. I like lebron, but sometimes it’s cringe af listening to him speak. He’ll try to sound really smart but uses words out of context and sometimes the wrong words all together. Lol if he can hardly talk properly he ain’t making these decisions; with his money he can buy the best financial advisors in the world. And more power to him

[@eyewatch2see77]

@@INoticeTooMuch1 *Lebron has made HIs OWN decisions since childhood* .. ALL of which, have worked out well for him thus far (2002-2020)

[@drone1028]

​@Flintlock 1v1 he's smart enough to surround himself with smart people.

[@oerdsalihu8655]

Please never stop these videos. Subbed. Awesome content.

[@thomasramirez6956]

I second this

[@ismailgarmate3581]

I third this

[@nasirali-vv7dd]

It is remarkable how he exceeded every expectation set by fans and the media. May allah bless him with more success on and off the court.

[@pkingglazersout6665]

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lebron James are the titans of sports marketing

[@reubenjoseph7228]

I think you are missing Roger Federrer!!

[@CitsVariants]

Reuben Joseph true but not team sports

[@kylemalachowski]

Facts

[@milosilic23]

Michael Jordan

[@jackbrumbaugh339]

milosilic23 Michels the goat but he sucked market wise. Seriously if this guy planned in the modern NBA he would he despised for being a dick and punching his teammates

[@BeanisBags]

I got a LeBron sprite ad for this video. I’ve never seen that 😂😂

[@akbeastvijayfan]

Amazing video. This channel has the quality to become the benchmark for sports related videos.

[@weston7trillion]

The King of Modern Basketball, on and off the court

[@jonjones8819]

@slapdatpuck88 Stop hating and appreciate greatness while you can.

[@Team-fj5xg]

@KMR f off

[@FirstnameLastname-yc2mt]

"Modern" basketball. But we all kno who the GOAT is...

[@deshortyprince10]

@@FirstnameLastname-yc2mt mj is the goat when we talk abt impact, LeBron is the best player to ever play the game

[@FirstnameLastname-yc2mt]

@@deshortyprince10 impact?? Lolololol. When jordan played ratings when up 👍 When lebron started saying stupid stuff and getting political ratings went down👇 Jordan wins.

[@losthuman272]

You all make learning about business so fascinating!! This should be a class or workshop or webinar or conference! Or all of them!

[@stuehl8607]

Damn. Your quality was already so damn good in your first videos and now it's gotten even better.

[@AM-vv7xr]

He is a Boss, Choosing equity/partnership/ownership over endorsement deals

[@aryasingh1625]

Bro honestly your style of editing is really nice

[@stesta77]

5:26 Jay-Z is not the co-founder of beats earphones. Dr. Dre is.

[@deinemom1953]

The guy in the Video never stated that Jay-Z was

[@adamismail2883]

@@deinemom1953 but he put him there leading to misunderstanding and even misinfomation

[@anonymousbroccolli6197]

@@adamismail2883 if people knew whom Jay z was trust me they won't

[@tomkaffel192]

@@anonymousbroccolli6197 Jay Z didn’t found Beats so it is misleading. It is even more misleading as Jay Z is very well known for his business ventures so it makes his (JZ’s) ownership very plausible. *btw this is no disrespect of the vid, thought it was good

[@hamsatd]

He's gonna buy the Cavs up one day.

[@MambaMonkeyOG]

Facts

[@elvintp10]

An athlete like LeBron will inevitably own an NBA franchise.

[@unknow11321]

and not a franchise like hornets. maybe lakers or cavs.

[@corneliusyoungblood8472]

@@unknow11321 The Cavs are an extremely shitty franchise. And the Lakers would set him back like $ 5-6 B. So he's probably gonna have to settle for a shitty franchise like the Hornets or Cavs.

[@sp123]

Cornelius Youngblood the Bus family already has an agreement of who gets to buy the Lakers, if they would ever sell

[@raunak1786]

Absolutely incredible work AI. Great to have stumbled upon your channel.

[@JoeyBurbs]

this was so well done, amazing job

[@AzlanShahAShafiuddin]

When I see a video from Athletic Interest, I click and watch until the end. True story.

[@GrowWithWill]

This channel is freaking genius. Love these stories and appreciate you putting these together. If you haven't done one on AI yet, I'd love to see that in regards to his life-time shoe deal.

[@PrinceCobra21]

great video lads 👌 keep up the good work

[@amin3307]

Love your content, extremely educational and empowering!!!

[@Reizermo]

this is a really good channel. discovered tonight and serious binge so far.

[@MichaelTiopan]

6:03 That face when the money is come, you win me there 🤣

[@aantoine5819]

This was really good, even better, and more informative than his talks with Maverick

[@edwarddorelien1969]

These videos are absolutely amazing!

[@lukesawney8803]

Really cool video!

[@diboymashesha]

I wish you made two videos per week another master class 🤞🏽

[@ilcapitanoalexandr8698]

I feel your passion in every video, you deserve all success. Best regards

[@Kviz511]

A video on the business of David Beckham. Even after football, he is one of the most recognisable brands in the world. Haig Club, Adidas Preds, Tudor watches, Maserati, and now owning Inter Miami. How he became the first Brit to become the global football icon and now a businessman? Makes for a good video by you guys

[@franciscorapp2491]

This channel is gold. I would like to learn more about Beats' (ambush) marketing strategies (like in Beijin 2008 or London 2012) and other similar borderline marketing campaigns :)

[@magentazane9827]

You make great videos, keep it up!

[@wrya187]

Business of Didier Drogba... Please. he just won UEFA President's Award is one of most influntial figures in the world, im sure it will be a great video.

[@unknow11321]

weah could be 1 too

[@Zaghzackio]

Stop a war in his country man what a hero

[@TristanMark1]

Great video ! when is the video about boxing coming out ?

[@awesomole]

I love this channel ♥. your content accompany me thru this pandemic. Much love guys!

[@rikasom]

Maybe he owns a piece of the NBA next then runs for POTUS?!🤷🏾‍♂️

[@jascam1]

Now this is what you call investing in yourself and charting your own destiny. Big props to LeBRON and his crew. It's not always about taking that quick money and buy flashy toys.

[@william_8844]

Great video as always

[@fynnmewes3878]

Great Channel!

[@btsdancestudio5691]

I learn more here than four years@Wharton Business School...Thank You!

[@siddharthc4825]

1. This guy is an incredibly astute businessman. At 23, he sought out Warren Buffett for investment advice. This is why I get annoyed when people argue endlessly on Kobe/Jordan vs Lebron. It simply doesn't matter! 2. He is a genius businessman whose business ventures will bring in 5x more than his NBA career earnings any day. 3. This video opened my eyes to one very important aspect which is, Lebron in all his business dealings has control over his Intellectual Property and so will never fall victim to others controlling his content, which is what even Dave Chappelle faced when he was forced to walk away from further seasons of the Chappelle show when producers tried to steer the show away from what he wanted it to be. 4. Another lesser known name I encourage people to look up is Junior Bridgeman, a journeyman in the NBA who amassed a HUGE fortune off the court through very smart business ventures. He is the SECOND RICHEST NBA player ever behind MJ. In some ways, he is more successful than AI and Dennis Rodman who are HoF players but squandered away their money.

[@JkComedy444]

Thanks I just looked the Junior Bridgeman couldn’t believe I never heard of him and seeing videos of him have less than a million views amazing story

[@staygrayed1099]

The financial market has suffered the impact of the virus and electoral dialogues and has affected major holding companies. However, market analyst see a new favorable shift coming in the market. Taking advantage of the situation and buying shares of global brands at minimum prices would be best.

[@TheOfficialDamefame]

Smart👍👍👍

[@Mileswayv]

Great video.

[@tigerwoods8022]

Really your videos are amazing if possible post your next video soon

[@whatsbetterthangreat5168]

This channel is awesome! Excellent content.

[@nooftaheri3502]

Such engaging content, i am loving it💙

[@Raghuveer2798]

All great athletes MJ, LeBron, Federer, Messi, Ronaldo, Nadal, Djokovic, all these guys are not just great on the field but also very smart off the field.

[@andreixperience]

Athletic Interest keeps providing some quality content, let's get them to 200k+ subs faster. Great video as always.

[@businessinterest5139]

Lebron also made money with every real state piece he has acquired during his contracts with Cavs (mansion in Akron), Heat (mansion in Miami) and Lakers (he has two mansions in LA)

[@Mtg501]

Great lessons learned from this one video thank you

[@notandyvee]

Good video.

[@spark_city9639]

350 million to 2.1 billion for Liverpool, a good investment imo both ways for FRG

[@businessguide6219]

This video is worth watching! More of this, please!

[@hanselfinn8946]

His impact on and off the court is just astounding

[@fayazuddin1339]

Just amazing as always

[@ajoymahato46]

Thanks for starting this channel , your videos are very knowledgeable and entertaining , keep up with the good work , superb quality ,😀🎉👍🪂🏍️🍜🐥🌾💐Please make videos about Valentino Rossi , David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi , Maria Sharapova, John Cena, 👍🙏🎉🔥😀

[@XQnoU]

Do you have a music list that encompasses this well documented video?

[@idaraakpan1021]

Fantastic content

[@KAANIBOY]

Dieser deutsche akzent killt einen 😂 geile videos, weiter so 🤌🏻

[@Opochtli]

Subscribed!

[@edgewrld]

this is a quality channel wow

[@jerrysmith8899]

LeBron James is the smartest athlete in sports. He is not only enriching himself, Maverick, Randy and Rich. He's giving back to the kids in Akron Ohio. There has never been an athlete like him. Loyal to his wife, kids, his trusted friends and community he came from. He didn't have to go to North Carolina to play and get drafted number three. He came right out of high school and got drafted number one. LeBron James is a winner on and off the court 👑

[@chinnukoti6064]

Hello u ,the admin...great content..i didnt know who LeBron James waa ..but today i watched Lakers highlights after watching ur video...!

[@TopNBA1]

amazing vid

[@nkulaih]

Thanks for creative content

[@josetomasguzmanrojas9150]

amazing video

[@sebeca]

Don't stop these videos 😍

[@John2000sBaby]

this channel is quality stuff

[@dmfamzo]

Even LeBron could not dream of a better situation than releasing the movie Space jam right after winning his fourth championship. Cha ching!

[@92yprepper19]

It would be his 5th championship.

[@Zingbog77]

nice vid

[@alysonbritta4312]

stock has a relatively high short interest. There recent earnings report was way better than expected. I think they may also see high short term gains.

[@smolmanager3511]

Do you manually pick.your stocks?

[@alysonbritta4312]

Paul helfer to handle my trades, as an investors, I don't have access to the electronic market. He access the exchange network and his system finds a buyer or seller depending on the order.

[@amihogatai8432]

say what you want about him, i once heard isiah thomas say "i don't want to endorse a product. i want to own the product." lebron james has taken that line of thinking beyond the next level.

[@vanobrian8762]

This is good info

[@nofaceman1305]

Could you make a video about the lifetime deal contracts. I've heard of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lebron James having them but don't understand their worth once they retire and are no longer in the spotlight.

[@steverl22]

Jordans are the best selling shoes.....he's been retired over 10+ years🤫

[@absvd6114]

@@steverl22 Ok?

[@evm3134]

@steverl22 Jordan owns a stake in the Jordan brand alongside royalties from sales, my guess is a similar route for Bron. He isn’t a subsidiary Nike brand like Jordan (eg Jordan has its own athletes it endorses) but I wouldn’t be surprised if he became a full subsidiary.

[@ap_7]

If your the best athlete of your sport then you will have insane worth after retirement as you can focus on more things.

[@lofibamboo1888]

Do a video about the brand of Tom Brady!

[@mrbucksgames8811]

Please make a video on CR7 please 🙏🙏🙏

[@ceesaydesignsolutions]

The best sports business on the internet right now... period.

[@richieanderson3040]

I'll never understand why ppl h8 this guy, he hasn't had a misstep in his whole career? And pls don't say the decision b/c he honored his contract. Anyone that reads this I wan't you to think about your favorite athlete in the last 30+ yrs & they've ''ALL'' had transgressions. Whether it's MJ, Brady, Magic, Doc, Bird etc...

[@alejandroalvarez262]

MJ has been perfect, lebron is 2nd to MJ

[@richieanderson3040]

@@alejandroalvarez262 One man's opinion, fortunately that's not mine...It's LBJ, Kareem then MJ...

[@maxk.734]

heared you say michael schuhmacher and instantly knew that youre a fellow german haha

[@michaelcampbell5849]

That's was great advice, too become partners with corporate companies.

[@zainahalmia5621]

See him owning 1 nba team and soaring high with his other projects. Coz he knows how to give back god bless him

[@540jade]

I wanna see Lebron own either the Cavs or Lakers in the future I feel like he’d be a good team owner

[@AbedNadiri]

He'll be better than Jordan definitely

[@anonymoustangerine]

maybe, but hes openly said before that hed like to own an lv based team

[@GeliCarlosJ]

and to think this guy didn’t go to college and he’s made hella bank. Its a source of inspiration definitely for lots of kids everywhere who may not be the best at academics or didnt go to the best college.

[@jeremie477]

what's the outro song?

[@pinalloy6505]

Great 👍

[@PB42189]

dam g, when they made those magic comparisons who knew it was that deep?

[@TheSDPPati]

Weiß jemand wie der Song von 3:45 bis 6:56 heißt?

[@ntihemukabenijoel6048]

Can't wait to see david beckham's on this channel

[@mrbucksgames8811]

I love this video

[@djh_king]

I would love to see him own an NBA team

[@KamilLizurej]

0:41 looks like Marcus Rashford :D

[@steverl22]

Once in a generation type of player....on and off the court. 👌🏾 Went from 0 to billion dollar lifetime deal with Nike🤔

[@eyewatch2see77]

@steverI22 .... not to mention > ALL of hs OTHER incomes coming from VARIOUS other avenues

[@summanzahid4351]

So inspiring

[@AlbinSahovic]

Hervorragendes video bro

[@gadget00]

Wao, truly remarkable careers both on the court and the market. Lebron has done very well

[@darraghslowey8767]

Id love to see him own a team one day!!! I think that would be nice for him. He like basketball

[@dstarsnz]

Who's here after lebron just passes over 1 billion in career earnings recently.