All results
Michael Jordan is giving back to his hometown with a generous and meaningful donation. According to a press release, the basketball legend and entrepreneur announced a $10 million contribution to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC, honoring his mother, Deloris Jordan. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Novant Health (@novanthealth) With this gift, the medical center’s neuroscience institute will be renamed the Novant Health Deloris Jordan Neuroscience Institute and will focus on advancing research, expanding access to cutting-edge neurological care, and supporting patients with conditions such as stroke, spine disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, and other complex neurological challenges. In a press statement, he said, “My mother taught me the importance of compassion and community, and I can’t think of a better way to honor her than by helping to ensure those in need can obtain the most advanced neurological care available. I’m...
Several prominent Black philanthropists have been investing in HBCUs. Forbes reports that funding to HBCUs has been on the rise amid a significant drop in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts under the Trump administration. Donating to HBCUs is vital because it strengthens representation across industries and fosters innovative and diverse perspectives that drive meaningful change, extending far beyond classroom walls into venture capital, business, technology, entertainment, and beyond. Examples of innovators from HBCUs from this year alone include Morgan State University graduate Peter Iwuh. He’s making waves through Tykoon AI, which is a platform that empowers student-athletes at HBCUs in the name, image, and likeness landscape by helping them find nearby opportunities, create merch, and more, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. Morgan State University is also home to alumni Kiante Bush and Clarevonte “Clay” Williams, who are the co-founders of Venture for T.H.E.M.,...
Kristopher Wright entered the footwear space by “happenstance.” Today, he is vice president at one of the world’s most well-known brands. Wright took center stage at the “Dope Thinkers Only Conference,” which was held at Louisiana’s Grambling State University from Sept. 11-12. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the conference is intended to empower and connect students and professionals in marketing, communications, entrepreneurship, and leadership. “Conferences like this are needed at HBCUs just to show students from actual practitioners: ‘I’m doing this, this is how I did it. And you can, too,'” student Jae Newton told AFROTECH™. The Houston native is projected to graduate in 2026 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, a concentration in public relations, and a minor in business marketing. At the conference, Wright shared that, as a 12-year-old raised in Harlem, NY, he was already exposed to sneaker culture. However, Wright did not understand then that his current...
The third-most valuable Michael Jordan trading card has sold at auction. JOOPITER The rare card has made its way to JOOPITER, an auction house owned by Virginia legend and award-winning music producer Pharrell Williams. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Williams had been a serial collector and launched the platform in 2022 “to embrace the energy that is released when objects change hands, and to respect the value that’s been created around these objects.” “Joopiter was founded to not only introduce a new voice into the auction landscape, but to recalibrate what it means to be a collector… We are excited to bring these objects to the world,” Williams said , according to WWD. Signed 1986-87 Jordan Card JOOPITER’s latest auction item was a signed 1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan rookie card, according to information shared on Instagram. Jordan’s card had been one of nine trading cards that he signed back in 2024 on his private golf course in Florida, per the auction’s page. The card...
Michael Jordan’s sports memorabilia remains highly sought after. AFROTECH™ has covered multiple auction sales featuring memorabilia from Jordan’s legendary NBA career. This includes a jersey worn during his 45-point game during the 1996-1997 season with the Chicago Bulls, which sold for $4.7 million at Sotheby’s auction house in November 2024. “One of the finest Michael Jordan jerseys ever to come to auction, MJ wore this road-red jersey for 5 months and 17 games during the Chicago Bulls legendary 1996-1997 championship season,” Sotheby’s detailed on their Instagram. “In the 1990s, the jersey’s image landed on trading cards, magazines, newspapers, and collectable posters like these from Starline or Costacos Brothers that decorated the walls of kids’ rooms around the world.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sotheby's (@sothebys) In February 2024, a set of six individual sneakers sported by Jordan during his victorious championship season sold for $8 million, which was the...
Cincoro, Michael Jordan’s spirit company, is making large strides. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the tequila company was founded in 2019 by Jordan in partnership with NBA team owners Jeanie Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks’ Wes Edens, and Boston Celtics’ Emilia Fazzalari and Wyc Grousbeck. Since then, it has won numerous awards and attracted notable investors, including Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, Michael Strahan , Fenway Sports Group Co-founder Tom Werner, and RedBird Capital Partners Founder and Managing Partner Gerry Cardinale. “Michael introduced me to the brand, and I’ve been an avid fan of Cincoro Extra Añejo since it launched in 2019. I’m honored to support Cincoro in its next era,” said Jeter in a press release. Williams commented: “Being part of Cincoro isn’t just about business —it’s about championing a legacy of greatness. I love Cincoro. Just as I’ve strived for excellence on the court, I recognize the dedication and drive behind Cincoro, and I’m...
Ray Allen turned down a lucrative offer as a rookie to sign with Nike. The California-born athlete was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1996 during the first round as the fifth pick, according to ESPN. He was traded that same day to the Milwaukee Bucks with a three-year rookie contract valued at $6.2 million, per Spotrac. Allen’s earnings helped him remain level-headed when he was receiving offers from FILA and Nike. He already had his mind set on Nike and was not even swayed by a six-figure offer from FILA, despite having a prior sponsorship deal with the company. “ I almost ended up wearing FILA. My agent at the time tried to make me accept a check for a $100,000 but they were telling me they were going to give me a signature shoe,” he told Sports Illustrated in a 2017 interview. “It was either FILA or Nike at the time, and (FILA) told me (I’d get) the signature shoe for five years years but the first two I had to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, steals or assists....
Michael Jordan has invested in a VC firm aiming to align itself with multiple unicorns. Sportico reports that Jordan has invested an undisclosed amount in the fourth fund of Courtside Ventures, a firm focused on the sectors of sports, media, entertainment, technology, and gaming. According to Crunchbase, the firm was founded by Deepen Parikh and Vasu Kulkarni. With over $200 million in assets under management, Courtside Ventures’ portfolio includes companies such as Veo (hardware and software subscription); Winzo (social gaming); The Athletic (sports media brand); and Betty (social casino platform), among others. “When we started Courtside in 2016, we did so out of desperate market need,” a statement from Courtside Ventures’ blog post reads . “Not only was there no venture fund that focused on sports, but existing VCs would run to the hills every time they saw a sports deal. This left entrepreneurs constantly having to look for alternate sources of funding, mostly from the very...
A handful of Michael Jordan memorabilia has sold for millions. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a jersey worn by the former Chicago Bulls star during a 45-point game in the 1996-1997 season sold for $4.7 million at auction. This met expectations, as the auction house Sotheby’s had projected it would sell for between $4 million and $6 million. “One of the finest Michael Jordan jerseys ever to come to auction, MJ wore this road-red jersey for 5 months and 17 games during the Chicago Bulls legendary 1996-1997 championship season,” Sotheby’s commented on Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sotheby's (@sothebys) Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, commented to the Chicago Sun-Times: “This jersey symbolizes not just Michael Jordan at the height of his celebrity and prowess, but also a pivotal moment in basketball history. Today’s results highlight the enduring strength of the game-worn market, especially those pieces associated with Michael...
C. David Moody Jr. once turned down an investment from Michael Jordan for his construction business. Since 1987, Moody, a Howard University alum with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, has been leading C.D. Moody Construction. He launched the Atlanta, GA-based venture seven years after serving as a staff architect and field engineer at Bechtel Power Corp. Moody was in his early 30s at the time of the company’s launch. While speaking with AFROTECH Brand Manager Will Lucas on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, he admitted he had a team of three — which later scaled to more than 60 individuals — and launched with low capital. In fact, he and his wife had to borrow a couple thousand dollars to get C.D. Moody Construction off the ground. Moody said his saving grace was financial advice from his father, who served as a professor and later vice provost of the University of Michigan. “My dad grew up in the depression, and things were tight and he grew up very poor in Louisiana,” Moody...
Michael Jordan is moving forward with a lawsuit demanding better outcomes from NASCAR. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Jordan became an owner of a NASCAR team, 23XI Racing, in September 2020 . According to NBC Sports, Jordan’s team — also owned by driver Denny Hamlin — operates under NASCAR’s charter system, which demands its 36 charter teams compete in all events. For their participation they are granted incentives such as payments, but this is contingent upon the team’s presence, performance in that event as well as over the course of the most recent three seasons, and the season-ending points fund. Despite the listed incentives, teams are not fairing well under the current structure, per AP News. In fact one team, Furniture Row Motorsports, was led to sell its charter for $6 million just a year after becoming the Cup Series winner in 2017 because it could not make a profit. Despite concerns, 13 organizations moved forward to sign NASCAR’s 100-page renewal contract on the...
Michael Jordan’s Cincoro Tequila is scaling globally. The company, born in 2016 through a conversation about a shared passion for tequila, was established alongside four other NBA team owners. The founding partners have since created a portfolio of tequilas made with 100% Blue Weber agave derived from Jalisco, Mexico . Cincoro Tequila is an award-winning company and has attracted investments from Serena Williams, Michael Strahan, and Derek Jeter, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “Cincoro has always been special to me because of the authentic friendships we’ve established around enjoying Cincoro and spending time together, designing it, experiencing it, and tasting it. We are constantly striving for greatness,” Jordan, co-founder of Cincoro Tequila, said in a news release announcing Williams’ ownership stake. “And now that we’re welcoming in some of my closest friends to the business, I’m looking forward to this next era of Cincoro alongside this all-star team.” After expanding its...
What was supposed to be a big moment in one photographer’s life has turned into a tale of survivor’s remorse after he claims that Nike tricked him out of credit for a photo he captured of Michael Jordan that would go on to become the logo for the company’s Jordan Brand. In a new short documentary, “Jumpman,” Jacobus “Co” Rentmeester accuses the leading athletic company of copying his work to create the Jordan Brand logo that has graced a plethora of sneakers and clothing products for decades. Originally shot during a photo shoot commissioned by Life magazine for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, Jordan was instructed to perform a grand jeté, which is “a classical ballet move where a dancer jumps and spreads their legs wide,” Fortune magazine reports. Today, the Jordan Brand is worth $6 billion. However, Rentmeester’s disdain comes from what he believes was negligence on Nike’s part to properly credit and compensate him for the role his photo may have played in inspiring the logo. View...
Jordan Brand is Nike’s best-performing division. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Jordan Brand continues to rise, tracking $4.7 billion in fiscal year 2021. At the time, this equated to a 31% increase and marked its highest yet, with growth in every region, including double digits in North America, according to WWD. The following fiscal year, Jordan Brand earned $5 billion. “We’re empowered to grow this brand and make the most of it in geographies around the world,” explained Craig Williams, the president of Jordan Brand at the time, per WWD. “And that’s where the distinctiveness and the independence — if you want to call it that — come into play. But we are turbocharged by being a part of a great global company called Nike Inc. It helps us to efficiently get things done in a way that if we were an independent company, we wouldn’t have that luxury. So it’s important for me, when I think about it with the team, to be both collaborative to take advantage of the wealth of...
Michael Jordan had an unconventional way of signing Stephen Jackson. In 2009, Jackson joined the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) and had a debut averaging 21.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals in 39.3 minutes across 72 games, the Basketball Network reports. That year, the team appeared in the NBA postseason for the first time. In 2010, Jackson received mentorship from Jordan, who had acquired majority team ownership the same year. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the former owner, Bob Johnson, had sold his stake for a reported $275 million, ESPN noted, while The Charlotte Observer stated it was $180 million. “I come out of the game, I’m asking him, he’s telling me certain stuff that he sees that I should do…,” Jackson said, according to the Basketball Network. “ How many people can say that? How many people can say that they’re sitting on a sideline with MJ?” Beyond guidance, Jordan also helped save Jackson’s playing career. During an “All The Smoke”...