In December, Lebron James signed a lifetime shoe deal with Nike.
What the sporting goods giant paid for King Jame's permanent loyalty wasn't disclosed, but Kanye West speculated it was a billion dollars in the Nike diss track 'Facts.'
James's business manager Maverick Carter was asked about the deal in an interview with GQ. He didn't want to put a specific number on it, but confirmed at was worth at least a billion.
How much was the deal for? I can't say. Come on, Mav! Can you ballpark it? What are people saying? Kanye said a billion. So a billion. [Maverick smiles and points one finger skyward.] Holy shit. Yeah. It's a fantastic deal. Nike feels great about the deal. That's the most important thing. As great as I feel, as great as LeBron feels—Nike feels fantastic about it. It's the largest deal in the history of the company. Their hope is he makes even more. And our hope is that, too, obviously.That comes to at least $20 million a year if James lives to 80.
Is this a good deal for Nike?