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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThere is no definitive ranking of the “best” athlete-entrepreneurs: success can mean a durable company, a major brand partnership, investment activity, or a business that creates jobs and reaches a broad audience. This editorial selection highlights 15 athletes whose documented business activity illustrates different routes from sport into commerce. It is not a claim that every person founded or operated every venture associated with them.
How this selection defines entrepreneurial success
The list favors athletes with identifiable business activity and a meaningful role in it, while recognizing that the role may differ substantially. A founder building a company, an investor backing startups, a franchise owner, a licensing partner, and a media producer are not interchangeable. The examples below span those models and several eras; dated revenue, valuation, and ownership milestones are identified as historical reports rather than current figures.
The University of Florida Institute for Coaching Excellence describes real estate and franchising as prominent paths in some athlete business transitions, while also examining newer media and venture-investment models. That is a pattern in its analysis, not a rule for every athlete. Its report and Business Leader’s non-ranked profile list inform the examples, but neither establishes a definitive top 15 or a universal measure of business success.
15 athletes and the business paths they represent
1. Michael Jordan: personal brand and ownership
Jordan’s business story includes a long-running partnership with Nike, not simply a company he founded alone. The University of Florida report describes Air Jordan as a Nike offshoot through which Jordan received a share of shoe profits, alongside his endorsements and other business interests. Business Leader reports that the partnership began in 1984 and Jordan Brand launched in 1997. It says Nike reported Jordan Brand revenue of $5.1 billion in 2022 and attributes at least $150 million that year to Jordan; these are dated secondary-source figures, not current totals. Business Leader’s profile and the University of Florida report describe different parts of the portfolio.
#1 Best Overall
- Author: Walton, Sam.
- Publisher: Bantam
- Pages: 368
- Publication Date: 1993
- Edition: Illustrated
2. Serena Williams: venture investing and production
Williams’s examples include Serena Ventures, the recovery-focused consumer brand Will Perform, and Nine Two Six Productions. Business Leader reports that Serena Ventures launched in 2017, raised $111 million (£87 million), and had invested in more than 60 startups by 2023. Those fund and investment figures are attributed to Serena Ventures as reported by the publication; they were not independently verified here. Williams co-founded Will Perform in December 2022 and launched Nine Two Six Productions in April 2023. The mix shows how an athlete can build a business presence through investing, products, and media rather than one operating company. Business Leader
3. LeBron James: media, sports interests, and community work
James’s portfolio includes SpringHill Company and Uninterrupted, as well as sports interests described by the University of Florida report, including connections to Fenway Sports Group. SpringHill, co-founded with Maverick Carter in 2020, develops entertainment and media projects. Inc. reported that an investment in 2021 valued the company at $725 million; that is a historical valuation, not a current valuation. James’s wider activity also includes workforce and education initiatives, which matter as community-oriented work but should not be confused with a company’s commercial performance. Inc. and the University of Florida report
4. Kevin Durant: venture investing and sports media
Durant’s business activity is associated with Thirty Five Ventures, Boardroom, the podcast The ETCs, and an interest in Philadelphia Union, according to the University of Florida report. Together, they illustrate a portfolio approach combining investment, media, and sports ownership rather than a single founder-led operating business. University of Florida Institute for Coaching Excellence
5. Magic Johnson: a diversified portfolio
Magic Johnson Enterprises’ company history records milestones across sports, infrastructure, food services, insurance, entertainment, and technology. It notes, for example, a Sodexo partnership in 2006 and a 2014 milestone involving a controlling shareholding in EquiTrust. These dated entries show the breadth of Johnson’s business activity; they do not establish that each interest remains current. Magic Johnson Enterprises company history
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The George Foreman Grill is an example of a business built around a licensed product and an athlete’s name. Business Leader reports that the grill launched in 1994 and had sold more than 100 million units by the time of its 2023 report. It also reports that Foreman sold the grill’s commercial rights in 1999 for $138 million (£109 million). The unit figure and sale price are historical secondary-source claims, not current sales or a present valuation. Business Leader
7. David Lloyd: fitness clubs and business exits
Former tennis player David Lloyd founded David Lloyd Leisure in 1982. Business Leader reports that the business floated in 1992 and was sold to Whitbread in 1995 for £201 million; Lloyd later created Next Generation fitness clubs and sold that business in 2006. The chronology makes his case notable for founding, scaling, and exiting businesses in the fitness sector. Business Leader
8. Dave Bing: building an industrial company
Former NBA player Dave Bing formed Bing Steel in 1980. Business Leader reports that it grew from four employees to more than 1,400 and generated annual revenue of $300 million. The publication does not specify a reporting period for that revenue figure, so it should be read as a reported company milestone, not an estimate of present-day revenue. Bing’s example stands apart from athlete-branded products: it is a steel company built in an industrial sector. Business Leader
9–15. Why this is a selection, not a definitive ranking
The evidence available for this topic supports the eight named examples above, but it does not substantiate seven additional individuals for a fully sourced 15-person list or establish a consistent basis for ranking 15 people across sports and eras. Adding names to reach the title’s number would imply evidence the source record does not provide. A reliable comparison would need to establish each person’s role, the venture’s current or historical status, and comparable measures of longevity, scale, or impact.
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What these business models have in common—and where they differ
| Business path | Illustrated by | What the example shows |
|---|---|---|
| Brand partnership and licensing | Michael Jordan; George Foreman | Commercial value can come from a negotiated share in a branded line or from licensing a product associated with an athlete. The athlete’s role is not necessarily sole founder or operator. |
| Venture investing | Serena Williams; Kevin Durant | Investing across startups or building an investment and media portfolio differs from managing one operating company. |
| Media production | LeBron James; Serena Williams; Kevin Durant | Production companies, media platforms, and podcasts extend an athlete’s reach into entertainment and publishing. |
| Company founding and operation | David Lloyd; Dave Bing | These cases center on building businesses in fitness and steel, respectively, rather than relying primarily on an athlete’s personal brand. |
| Diversified holdings | Magic Johnson; LeBron James; Kevin Durant | Multiple interests can span industries, but a portfolio listing alone does not establish present ownership or the performance of each venture. |
How to judge an athlete’s business success
A headline valuation or sales figure rarely tells the whole story. For a fair comparison, first identify what the athlete actually did: founded a company, operated it, invested in it, licensed a name, or participated through a partnership. Then assess the evidence against the same questions:
- Role: Is the athlete documented as a founder, operator, investor, spokesperson, or owner?
- Duration: Did the venture persist, grow, or reach a documented exit?
- Scale: Is there a dated revenue, investment, sales, or valuation figure—and who reported it?
- Timing: Did the business begin during the athlete’s playing career or afterward?
- Impact: Is there evidence of jobs, access, community activity, or influence on an industry?
- Freshness: Does a source establish that the person still owns or operates the venture, or does it describe only a past milestone?
These checks prevent a licensing deal from being treated as equivalent to founding a company, and prevent a historical valuation from being mistaken for current performance. In the examples here, the numeric business claims come from secondary reporting and are explicitly tied to their reporting dates.
Why there is no single athlete-to-business playbook
The cases show distinct ways to turn a public profile, professional network, or personal expertise into commercial activity. Jordan and Foreman illustrate brand and licensing economics; Williams and Durant illustrate investment and media; Lloyd and Bing illustrate businesses rooted in fitness and manufacturing; Johnson’s company timeline shows diversification across sectors. The University of Florida analysis identifies real estate and franchising as recurring patterns in some athlete transitions, while its discussion of newer media and investment models underscores that the routes differ by era and opportunity.
That variety is useful to readers interested in business, but it also limits any simple “best” list. Net worth, company value, and brand revenue measure different things, and an athlete’s association with a venture does not by itself show how much control, risk, or operating responsibility they had.
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