Not Jordan, not Magic: The NBA player who built a $600 million fortune with burgers, Coca-Cola bottling plants and smart business bets

Junior Bridgeman is estimated to be worth about $600 million. His name is far less known than Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or LeBron James, who usually top the lists of rich former players. Bridgeman never played in an All-Star game, and his highest yearly salary was $350,000. His wealth came from business, not basketball.

A modest NBA career

Ulysses Lee Bridgeman, called Junior, grew up in East Chicago, Indiana. He played for Washington High School, and his form there won him a scholarship to the University of Louisville. From 1972 to 1975 he played under coach Denny Crum.

The Los Angeles Lakers picked him in the 1975 draft. Soon after, they traded him and a few other players to the Milwaukee Bucks. In return, the Lakers got centre Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who later entered the Hall of Fame.

Bridgeman stayed with Milwaukee for ten years and averaged 13.5 points a game. He then moved to the Los Angeles Clippers, played two more seasons and retired in 1987.

His estimated career earnings were only about $4 million. After taxes and agent fees, he probably kept less than half of that, and he received it over many years, not in one payment. For comparison, the NBA’s minimum salary today is $1.16 million, according to Statista. That is more than three times his highest yearly pay.

The Wendy’s bet

Money trouble after retirement is common among NBA players. A well-known Sports Illustrated article said almost 60 per cent of players face serious financial problems, such as bankruptcy, after they leave the game. Players from Bridgeman’s time, who earned much less than today’s players, were at higher risk.

Bridgeman chose a different path. His first investment after retirement was a Wendy’s franchise. At that time, Wendy’s was a young burger chain and a riskier choice than McDonald’s or Burger King. But that may have helped him. A newer chain would likely have charged a lower franchise fee than an established one.

He did not go in blind. During his NBA off-seasons, Bridgeman worked at Wendy’s to learn how the business ran. His first restaurant did well enough to make him a multimillionaire. Wendy’s has since grown into a major name in fast food, with outlets across the country.

In 2016, Bridgeman sold all his restaurants. The sale likely brought him hundreds of millions of dollars in profit, though the exact figure is not public.

Bridgeman did not stop after the sale. He moved into other businesses and bought a Coca-Cola bottling plant. He also started a media company, Bridgeman Sports and Media.

In 2020, the company bought Ebony and Jet magazines. Both have a strong following among African American readers, but both were bankrupt at the time. According to Forbes, Bridgeman closed the deal for just $14 million. The magazines have since become digital publications, run by his daughter Eden.

The same approach shows up across his career; buy something undervalued, learn it well, and hold it. His portfolio today includes real estate, Coca-Cola bottling plants and media businesses.

He turned roughly $2 million in net earnings into about $600 million since 1987. Few professional fund managers have matched that return.

Junior Bridgeman died on March 11, 2025, at age 71, after a medical emergency at an event in Louisville.

Forbes reported in February 2025 that his net worth had passed $1.4 billion. Reports say his September 2024 purchase of a 10% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks pushed him into billionaire territory.

Bridgeman’s success was not luck. He studied the business before putting money in, and he kept looking for new opportunities even after his first big win.