Magic Johnson Passed on a Nike Stock Offer From Phil Knight in the '70s
He could have been a billionaire.
While Magic Johnson is hundreds of millions of dollars away from any sort of financial struggle, the NBA Hall of Famer missed out on a pretty significant, lucrative opportunity back in the late seventies. As revealed during a recent sit-down with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Magic Johnson once passed on a stock on a Nike stock offer from Phil Knight.
“When I first came out of college, all the shoe companies came after me,” Johnson tells Ellen DeGeneres. “And there was this guy, Phil Knight, who had just started Nike.” While other companies rushed to offer Magic checks, the nascent ’70s Nike only had stock options to offer. “So he said something [about] stocks — ‘I’m gonna give you a lot of stocks.’ I didn’t know nothing about stocks.”
“Boy, did I make a mistake. I’m still kicking myself. Every time I’m in a Nike store, I get mad. I could’ve been making money off of everybody buying Nikes right now.” Depending on just how much stock Phil Knight offered Johnson, the long-term return could have been blessed him with a rather hefty sum. Still, considering Magic Johnson’s current status, he shouldn’t be too upset.
You can check out Magic Johnson’s entire Ellen DeGeneres Show interview above.
