pull down to refresh

Remember Junior Bridgeman? NBA journeyman became billionaire
150 sats \ 4 comments \ @Bell_curve 4 Jun Stacker_Sports
From Brave ai... Junior Bridgeman accumulated his wealth through strategic investments in various businesses after his retirement from the NBA. He began exploring business opportunities in the late 1970s and entered the restaurant business in 1987 after retiring from the NBA. Initially, he opened his first Wendy's franchise with former NBA player Paul Silas in Brooklyn, although this venture was not successful. However, Bridgeman persisted and eventually built a fast-food empire that included over 500 Wendy's, Chili's, and Pizza Hut franchises at its peak in 2015
In 2016, he sold 120 Chili's and 100 Wendy's franchises to a private buyer and shifted his focus to a Coca-Cola bottling company, which he formed in February 2017 Additionally, in 2020, Bridgeman purchased Ebony and Jet magazines for $14 million after they declared bankruptcy earlier that year In September 2024, he also purchased a 10% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks, the team he played for from 1975 to 1984 and again in 1986 to 1987
Throughout his career, Bridgeman demonstrated keen business acumen and the ability to identify profitable opportunities. He was known for advising NBA players on financial matters and often emphasized the importance of understanding business models thoroughly and putting trusted individuals in charge By the time of his death on March 11, 2025, Bridgeman's net worth was estimated at $1.4 billion
https://davidrhenderson.substack.com/p/junior-bridgemans-american-dream
https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/junior-bridgeman-dies-milwaukee-bucks-basketball-65e3fc00
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40625836/how-nba-sixth-man-built-600m-empire
write
preview
related posts
10 sats \ 3 replies \ @grayruby 4 Jun
Damn. That’s impressive.
reply
40 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bell_curve OP 4 Jun
the espn article from 2024 is very informative
from wsj: Earlier this year, Forbes estimated Bridgeman’s net worth at $1.4 billion, noting he was in “rare air alongside Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James as the only NBA players with 10-figure fortunes”—and the only one who had built that wealth in retirement, without having swept in astronomical earnings and endorsement deals during his playing days.
In 2016, the magazine had also named him the fourth-highest-earning retired athlete from any sport. That list went: Michael Jordan, David Beckham, Arnold Palmer and Junior Bridgeman.
Bridgeman died on March 11 after suffering a cardiac event at a fundraising luncheon in Louisville, Ky. He was 71.
reply
40 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve OP 4 Jun
By 2016, Bridgeman owned more than 500 franchises, and Bridgeman Foods was the second-largest Wendy’s franchisee in the world. He also owned more than 100 Chili’s and a long tail of Fazoli’s, Blaze Pizzas, Perkins, Mark’s Feed Stores and Golden Corrals.
That year, however, he sold many of those restaurants to purchase territories from Coca-Cola in three Midwestern states and start a new venture, Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling. Having landed a foothold in that lucrative business just as Coca-Cola was divesting much of its manufacturing and distribution operation, Bridgeman soon expanded his bottling enterprise too, reaching into two more states and Canada.
Bridgeman told “How Leaders Lead”: “I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do something else in life.”
reply
40 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve OP 4 Jun
Chauncey Billups, the former NBA star and current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was one of the athletes Bridgeman mentored most closely. They eventually owned 32 Wendy’s and Blaze Pizza franchises together.
reply