Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ,[8] is an American businessman and former professional basketball player who is a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 15 seasons in the NBA between 1984 and 2003, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time,[9][10][11] he was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.[12] He is the wealthiest athlete of all time,[13][d] and one of the world’s richest celebrities, with a $4.3 billion net worth as of 2026.[15]
Jordan played college basketball with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels’ national championship team in 1982.[5] As a junior in 1984, he was named the national college player of the year and was selected by the Bulls with the third overall pick of the 1984 NBA draft.[5][16] With the Bulls, he emerged as a league star known for prolific scoring, defensive prowess and vehement competitiveness.[17][18] His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames “Air Jordan” and “His Airness“.[5] Jordan won his first NBA title with the Bulls in 1991 and followed that with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Citing physical and mental exhaustion from basketball and superstardom, Jordan abruptly retired before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization. He returned to the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.[5] Jordan retired for the second time in 1999, then returned for two NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.[5][16] He was selected to play for the United States national team during his college and NBA careers, winning four gold medals—at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1992 Tournament of the Americas and 1992 Summer Olympics—while also being undefeated.[19]
