Magic Becoming a Billionaire Reveals an Important Life Lesson

Johnson mastered a key principle from Think & Grow Rich

Magic Johnson is now a billionaire, Forbes reports.Photo by(The author)

Los Angeles, CA — "Former NBA star and investor Magic Johnson is officially a billionaire," CNN reports. When considering Johnson earned less than $40 million playing in the NBA, the feat is all the more remarkable.

Such feats only mark the start of Johnson's highlight reel as a businessman. After all, as of today, the former Laker is worth twice as much as the current owner, Jeanie Buss...

...Let the above mind-boggling accomplishment sink in for a moment.

As for why Johnson's lapping Buss on the net-worth track is noteworthy, keep in mind the following:

It was Jeanie's father, Jerry Buss, who taught Magic the blueprint for making a fortune.

Johnson mastered Hill's principle

With over 80 million copies sold, "Think and Grow Rich" is the best-selling self-help book of all time.Photo by(InvestmentTotal.com/Flickr)

“In every instance where you find a man [or woman] of outstanding achievement in any calling," said Hill, "you will find that he has been a success as a result of a Mastermind Alliance.”

When the Lakers first drafted Earvin "Magic" Johnson, veterans warned him about "socializing" with the owner.

“The unwritten rule was you couldn’t befriend the owner,” Johnson told Shannon Sharpe.

After a memorable practice, an irritated veteran gave the rookie an earful. “Come here, man!” he told Johnson. “You can’t be Jerry Buss’ friend.”

Johnson nodded. He then reminded his teammate that “you’re a millionaire and he [Buss] is a billionaire. And so, I’m hanging out with him.”

And as they say — the rest is history.

The Takeaway

Lunches. Dinners. Pool Parties. The youth Johnson shadowed Buss' every move.

“[Dr. Buss] said, ‘Earvin, let me teach you the business,’ ” Magic told Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times. “He brought me in, showed me the books, taught me how it all works, introduced me to people I would never have met, made me understand what it means to be in L.A.”

It's no accident the billionaire Bill Gates counts fellow billionaire Warren Buffett as one of his closest friends. Birds of a feather flock together, after all.

During Johnson's playing days, Buss told Magic he'd make him a partial owner of the Lakers one day (if Johnson saved up enough). Such business dealings between a white team owner and a Black player were unheard of in the early 80s.

Buss' and Magic's vision became a reality in 1994. In fact, Johnson's partial ownership of the Lakers set the stage for ownership stakes in three Los Angeles-based sports teams and an NFL team.

Along with the championship banners hanging in Crypto.com Arena, Jerry Buss' lasting legacy will be the financial literacy he taught Magic. True power is the power to empower the otherwise powerless, after all.

On the road to billionaire status in 2019, Magic put it best:

I owe a lot of it to Dr. [Jerry] Buss.