Former NBA athlete Junior Bridgeman is now a billionaire.

From NBA Player To Successful Businessman

Bridgeman was among the 1975 NBA Draft class and was selected in the first round as the eighth pick by the Los Angeles Lakers, notes Basketball Reference. He was soon traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a deal to bring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers. He went on to play with the Bucks until 1984 before spending two years with the Los Angeles Clippers. Bridgeman returned to the Bucks for his final season in 1986-87, according to ESPN.

His starting salary in the league was two payments totaling $140,000, but he only saw $55,000 due to taxes and agent fees. Over his 12-year playing career, he earned $2.95 million and never made more than $350,000 in a single season.

When Bridgeman retired from the league in 1987, he had already considered a roadmap for his post-career as a businessman. Forbes notes that he received guidance from former Milwaukee Bucks owner Jim Fitzgerald, who encouraged him to invest $150,000 in a cable startup Fitzgerald was a part of. When his mentor sold the company a few years later, that investment netted Bridgeman nearly $700,000.

Empire Breakdown

After the cable sector took a dive, Bridgeman turned his attention to the fast-food industry. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, he invested in multiple Wendy’s locations and other restaurants.

Becoming a franchisee had its pitfalls, including the exit of his business partner when his first Wendy’s franchise in Brooklyn, NY, was destroyed in a fire.

“We suffered all of the things that come with not knowing,” Bridgeman told Forbes.

Becoming a hands-on student of the business, Bridgeman went to training camps and worked peak hours as a drive-thru cashier to better understand all aspects of the restaurants. He was able to revive his franchise and went on to secure more restaurants, eventually growing his portfolio to around 520 locations at its peak in 2015, generating $500 million in revenue. His family still maintains a controlling stake in 160 Wendy’s franchises and 70 Fazoli’s Italian restaurants after Bridgeman sold most of his restaurants for around $250 million.

Bridgeman has expanded his business ventures and became a Coca-Cola distributor in 2016. For an investment of nearly $290 million, he purchased the Heartland Coca-Cola bottling company, which covers Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. The business, in which he holds full ownership, has reached nearly $1 billion in annual revenue and is valued at almost $1 billion after debt, according to Forbes. This valuation also considers Bridgeman’s 2018 minority stake in Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada.

Bridgeman is also the owner of Jet and Ebony Magazine and a minority owner in his former Milwaukee Bucks team with a 10% stake, as AFROTECH™ mentioned.

“Bridgeman… is getting a preferred limited partner discount of 15%, or a $3.4 billion valuation, to buy a portion of the team that he played for from 1975 to 1984,” sources aware of the deal told CNBC.

Net Worth

Bridgeman is reportedly worth an estimated $1.4 billion, per Forbes, and therefore joins a small list of players attached to the NBA who became billionaires — Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and LeBron James, who made history as the first active player to achieve this feat.

“He didn’t waste his time just thinking about the game of basketball,” James told Forbes. “He’s always had a business mindset. Obviously, he loved the game because he got to [the NBA]. But then he used all the resources, outlets — the connections — to his advantage and he’s built an unbelievable portfolio.”