Michael Jordan spoke about police brutality and his recent $100 million donation through the Jordan Brand to the Black community in a new interview with the Charlotte Observer, earlier this week.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

“We have been beaten down (as African-Americans) for so many years. It sucks your soul. You can’t accept it anymore. This is a tipping point. We need to make a stand. We’ve got to be better as a society regarding race,” Jordan said.

“Face up to your demons. Extend a hand. Understand the inequalities,” he urged. “Sure, it’s about bargaining for better policing, but it’s more. We have encountered racism to be somewhat acceptable in certain circles.”

Jordan also spoke about his recently announced $100 million donation. He isn’t yet specifying where exactly the donation will go, but says it’s about making an effort: “We haven’t yet figured which vehicles to utilize. But it’s first about making an effort. It’s not just (donating) money. It’s the act of calling on all of us to take a look at ourselves. That’s an important start.”

Jordan also uses the interview to speak about education, police bias, and philanthropy. Check out his full interview with Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer here.

[Via]

Michael Jordan is one of the most successful athletes of all-time and will forever be known as one of the greatest players to ever do it. He is also insanely rich as his net worth is over $2 billion. When you have that much money, you are able to pick and choose whichever endorsements you believe are worth your time. Thanks to MJ's profile, he is constantly being hit up with huge opportunities although he doesn't always accept them.

Earlier this week, we reported on how MJ once turned down a $100 million deal even though it only required about two hours of his time. Now, Jordan's son Marcus is weighing in on this matter, noting that the company should have reached out to him as he would have had a lot more leverage with his father.

Michael Jordan has a net worth of over $2 billion which just goes to show how successful he is both on and off of the court. Jordan’s salary while playing basketball is simply a fraction of what he has made thanks to various endorsement deals, including profits from his ultra-successful Jordan Brand. 

Thanks to Jordan’s fame, brands are always coming to him with new opportunities and as his agent David Falk described, the NBA legend is incredibly picky about what he puts his name to. In an interview with WFAN’s Boomer and Gio radio, Falk explained that MJ even turned down a $100 million dollar deal.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

“I brought him a deal three years ago for $100 million. All he had to do was, other than giving his name and likeness, make a one two-hour appearance to announce the deal and he turned it down,” Falk said. “God bless him. He’s been so successful, it gives him an opportunity to do whatever the hell he wants or not to do things he doesn’t want. I really admire that. He’s very, very selective in the things he wants to be involved in.”

Considering how little effort it would have been to make the money, it illustrates that MJ gets to pick and choose what he wants to do and that he’ll only put his name behind something if he truly believes in it. When it comes to the Charlotte Hornets, that still remains to be seen.

[Via]

Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world and has a net worth of over $100 billion. While not all of that money comes in the form of liquid assets, there is no denying that he has the money to end world hunger ten times over. Okay, sure, that’s definitely not an exaggeration and it certainly isn’t one man’s responsibility to take on such a lofty goal, although by now you probably get the point. 

With the Coronavirus pandemic ravaging the United States, there are now numerous families who don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. Millions of people have lost their jobs and we could very well be in for an economic depression. Jeff Bezos is looking to help aid this crisis and today, he announced that he was donating $100 million to Feeding America which helps provide food to those in need.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

As Bezos noted in a statement, Feeding America typically receives donations from restaurants but now, those establishments are closed. Bezos says his contribution will help relieve this stress for the foreseeable future.

Needless to say, it’s good to see someone putting their massive wealth to good use. While $100 million won’t solve everything, it will certainly help during what will prove to be some incredibly hard months.

[Via]