Michael Jordan And The New Members Of The Forbes 400

It got harder to make The Forbes 400 ranking of America’s richest people this year, with the minimum net worth required to make the list hitting a record-tying $2.9 billion. Yet, despite the high bar, 18 people amassed fortunes big enough to earn a spot among this elite group for the first time.

The most famous face to join the 400 this year: Michael Jordan, the first pro athlete ever to appear in these ranks. The basketball great earned some $90 million over his playing career, but it’s his off-court moves that land him among the wealthiest Americans. For decades he has gotten a cut of every Jordan-branded sneaker, shirt or sock Nike sells—enough to bring him $260 million in estimated (pretax) income over the past year alone. Big bucks have also come from the Charlotte Hornets. In August, Jordan sold a majority stake in the NBA team at a $3 billion valuation, 17 times what it was worth when he became lead owner in 2010.

The richest of all newcomers is Elisabeth DeLuca (worth an estimated $8.2 billion), widow of Subway founder Fred DeLuca (d. 2015). In August, private equity firm Roark Capital struck a deal to acquire the sandwich giant in a deal reported to be worth more than $9 billion—which could put an estimated $3.4 billion after taxes into the pockets of DeLuca, who inherited half the business upon her husband’s 2015 death, according to Forbes’ reporting.

The youngest newcomer this year is 38-year-old Josh Kushner. The son of real estate developer Charles Kushner and younger brother of Jared Kushner, who served as senior advisor to his father-in-law President Donald Trump, he’s the first member of his clan to make The Forbes 400. For that, he can thank Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm he founded in 2010 at age 25. An early backer of startups like Instagram, Spotify and Slack, Thrive raised $175 million in January at a $5.3 billion valuation.

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahyou...

Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?s...

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership...

Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.