Jordan is the only African-American to own an NBA franchise—and the only Black person among the new 290 members to the Billionaires Club.  He purchased the team for $275 million in 2010. The NBA’s enormous new TV deal with ESPN and Turner adds even more value to the franchise.

In the deal, which begins in 2016, the networks will pay the NBA an average of $2.66 billion per year. They paid about $930 million per year under the old deal. That works out to an extra $57 million in revenue per year for MJ’s Hornets.

Jordan bought the team when franchise values were stagnating. They have since exploded into a stratosphere no one could have expected. Jordan would never do it, but he can thank Sterling for his ugly remarks, as they helped Jordan and others in a significant ways.