Earvin Johnson grew up on the east side of Lansing, Michigan, in a house with nine siblings and a father who worked the GM assembly line and held a second job hauling garbage on weekends. Money was always tight, but family was tight too. Magic took that work ethic to the Lakers, won five championships, and became one of the greatest players in NBA history.

But Magic Johnson the businessman began where Magic Johnson the athlete left off. After his 1991 HIV diagnosis and forced retirement from the game, the conventional wisdom was that his career was over. His business career was just beginning.

He spent the 1990s studying business, partnering with Sony Loews to bring movie theaters into Black neighborhoods, and then striking one of the most remarkable franchise deals in American history: a partnership with Starbucks that opened 125 locations in urban markets — every one profitable. He sold his Starbucks stake for $100 million.

He then co-purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2.15 billion — the largest sale price in baseball history at the time. He co-owns the Los Angeles FC soccer team and holds major stakes in multiple corporations. Magic Johnson's net worth is now estimated at $1.2 billion. The GM plant worker's son from Lansing is a billionaire. That's the whole story right there.