Magic Johnson On Becoming A Billionaire, Jordan vs LeBron, & Owning The Dodgers & Commanders

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Erners. What's up?

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Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, oh yeah yeah.

Oh yeah yeah oh yeah, very very very well. Yeah oh yeah, ah.

The time has arived. We did it again. That's a fact. We did it again.

Man.

More importantly, we did it again. We all of us. Man, this is amazing.

Hold on, let me just take two seconds just to really look.

Right out here right now.

Y'all look absolutely incredible and bronoplults for yourselves. So being here this weekend, I told you we had history to make. Y'all heard the messages. Y'all came through in droves. We made history. This is the biggest investments of all time.

Y'all. Clap it up. Did we over deliver? We not even done yet.

It's not done yet, man, So we're not gonna take too much of your time. We got one of the greatest inspirations, one of the greatest entrepreneurs, one of the greatest athletes, one of the greatest businessmen, one of the world greatest.

Just keeps flowing.

But first, be first, before we bring out the great Irvin Magic Johnson. We gotta make a motion picture out of this. Of course, you know we have an intro, but we gotta really state to state. We gotta set the stage. So let's let's do it. Let's do it, please av team. Let's let's get it going.

Man has a smile that lights up a television screen from here.

The bangor made on my Irvin Magic Johnson.

Back then, I was dreaming that I was playing the NBA and that that would be a businessman.

So we got a reach back and give back. So those are less fortunate. Can we do that, my Irvin Magic Johnson. I'm in the prizing.

I keep the ghetto like the hood before an a gentry five.

So when I can't die, Nat gottamental just what I thought.

I've got a twelve guys. When I first started, nobody thought about urban America. Didn't think they could make money, but now they know they do.

I know there worth the number one group of people going to the movies at that time, but we didn't have no theater.

We built six and zeros across the country's top ten highest grossal theaters of the nation.

In nineteen nine, game Mate Johnson became the first person to reach a franchise agreement with the Clock each ot and.

Went from building three to a building one hundred and twenty five.

The Multi Bowl was already negotiated, aid a record price for the Dodge over two billion dollars.

Our TV deal just came out at eight hild and they say, oh, they're the smartest guys.

We want to bring that doctor pride back to our fans, to our players, to the Los Angeles to me.

I've got time to myself.

I want to You're a billionaire here building there. I'm going with him.

I have over delivered to my customer base for thirty years.

He got the magic. And when I was at this level and I could deal with you. But I'm not at that level no more.

See I went here, then I went here, Now I'm here, So the deals got to be here.

Yeah, buddy, get on your feet.

Make some noise.

That was Isaac Johnson.

Let's go time.

Oh how does this feel? You played in front of twenty thousand people? How does this feel to see this for financial literacy?

The hell you speak?

This is amazing what both of you brothers have built. Because we need education and we need to learn how to work with each other because once we get the financial literacy, the.

Education of money.

We already got the work ethic, we already got the knowledge.

And everybody out here is hungry. But you too are the key here.

Let's give it up for both of them, because we wouldn't be here without that. And let me just say, God is so good and all the time.

All right, let's go. Then emailed it. He didn't. That wasn't plan. You know, that was not we didn't prob that. Look, I promise you that wasn't no disrespect. But he'd been to a few cookouts.

All right, everybody, take your seats. Take your seats, please, please please, Oh man, they said, call for the ice off. This ain't nothing but God, brother, it's nothing but indible.

It's incredible. Yes, yes, wow.

And it can only happen in Atlanta too. You gotta do it in tl It only happened in atl.

Only in Atlanta, only in Atlanta. All right, all right, ladies and gentlemen. So yeah, let's try to clear the ours if we can.

So magic. I want to start right off.

You're one of the most successful entrepreneurs, our coach, are one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. But everybody has mistakes and failures, right, So my first question is, what's one financial mistake you made in business that you learned from or might have been painful.

Well, along my journey and along all of our journeys, we're all going to make a mistake, and we might make two mistakes, right. But my first mistake was when I was actually nineteen years old.

I had just won the.

National championship and I beat that dude named Bird.

I don't know, I heard of them, And.

So all the shoe companies came to recruit me to sign with them. And this is why this conference is so important, because conference offered me the most money.

And so when you black and you broke, you take.

The most money, right, And so I decided to go at Converse.

But Phil Knight came in.

And he said, I can't offer you the same amount of money as Converse, but I can give you something called stock. And I passed on the stock, not knowing anything about stock at nineteen years old. You know how much money forty six years later that stock would be worth today? A billion five ooh, So I wish I was this herban fact when I was nineteen years old.

But let me just say to all of us, make sure we.

Educate ourselves about with you about stock.

You know, we want to own and so I.

Didn't know anything about it, but God put me in a position to make up for it, right I'm doing Okay?

Well, I mean, let me just follow up all that, because that story is a crazy story. When did you realize, oh man, I might have messed up a little bit? Like, did somebody educate you, like, yo, this this is equity, this is stocks, Like, at what point in your journey did you realize?

Okay, I realized I messed up when Michael Jordans came out with Air Jordan.

That's when I knows.

I could have owned some of that, right, So I messed up big time. And but you know that that's what happens you're not educated, and so now I educate myself about everything. And that was a huge mistake on my part. But also my family didn't know money. See a lot of times you're going to be the first generation of wealth and knowing money in your family, and so it's important that you're successful so that your siblings or people in your family or friends can follow your lead.

He trail blaze.

Everybody knows, like we grew up in the eighties, obviously watched your Hall of Fame career, and everybody just knew that magic smile.

He's the nicest guy in the world.

And then you hear people who've played with you and they said, he's the most competitive person I've ever met in life. So I wonder, how did you transition or did you have to transition when going into the business field. Were you just as competitive it's not even more?

Oh, I'm competitive right now. I don't want to lose at anything. And you take that same competitive drive that you had on the basketball court and you put it in business. Listen, I go to bed at eight o'clock, I'm up at four o'clock. I work out for two hours, and then I'm in the office all day. I'm driven. I'm driven, and I'm driven. I don't need nobody to pat me on the back or anything. I'm self motivated.

I'm a disciplined man, right, I do all the.

Research because I had to research my opponents back in the day.

Now I research.

Companies and businesses, and so I'm also when you think about I'm a perfectionist. I like to do everything the right way. And that's the key for all of us out here. The way you're gonna grow your brand and keep your brand. You gotta be particular about what you let come in right and what you put out there on social media and all that because that goes.

To your brand earners. What's up?

Look, this episode is brought to you by Square Banking. One of the things we love most is seeing neighborhood businesses level up. This iss West Indian spired writing our community that started with a small takeout counter. Now with Square they've been able to expand into a full sit down restaurant and even started catering events across the city. That's the kind of growth that inspires us, and it's

Block Inc. Is not a bank.

Banking services provided by Square Financial Services Inc. And Cutting Bank members. FDIC loans are subject to credit approval. So I'm very very particular about.

The companies I get involved in as well as what I send out on social media, because I don't want nothing to hurt my brand or dilute my brand.

It's interesting if I just asked follow up when you were playing, it was obvious the competition was there. Was this guy in Chicago, and there was this guy in Boston. In business, how do you look at it? Are you looking at companies, are you looking at other entrepreneurs or maybe some of your contemporaries who used to play sports as not competitors, but hey, they sent a benchmark we got to go hire.

Yeah.

Now, I think when we get to this level, you cheer for Michael Jordan and his business. You cheer for Robert Smith, you cheer for any brother who or sister who is doing very very well. See, I'm not no hater. I cheer for them, and then I also try to learn from them. If they got something that will helped me be successful, I'm gonna steal it, take it and

Right in my own mind, I was saying that, right, And.

So I always look at success of black people and say, wow, that's wonderful and also how did they get there?

What road did they take?

And if I can learn from them, whether that from their success or their mistakes, I'm going to get up under them to try to do just that.

Crap it up for that for sure. Ain't no hater.

So I mean, you've told the story about Starbucks. But my whole thing is how do you go from opening one business to having several hundred different type of businesses scaling without losing quality.

What the hardest thing to do is a scale of business, right, because you may have enough money to start that first business, right, But the hardest thing is, now am I in a financial situation where I can build the second one? So what I did was Starbucks. I let the first one build the second one. I didn't take any money from the profits we made. Then I let the second one build the third one, and fourth one, and on and on and on. I didn't take no money out until we build fifty stores.

And so why is that important?

Because it was important to scale the business.

But also put myself in a position where I could.

Sell those stores back to Starbucks and Howard Schultz. We built one hundred and twenty five Starbucks, and now I was able to sell all of them back. That was my excess strategy. And make sure you always have an extra strategy. You might not decide to sell, but at least you got the strategy in place, so if you do decide to sell.

You're ready to do just that. That's important right to me. It speaks about being mentally prepared. Right, so I know, as your before you.

Go into that next one, let be given this, I go for it. And then also two, don't sell too early. I'm gonna say that one more time. Don't sell too early because a lot of time they gonna come with this check and know you might be in a position and they know you won't take You're gonna take that check, and then they turn around say you sell it for five or ten million, But then three or four years

Okay.

So I had to stand up and tell him that because so many of our brothers and sisters sold their business too early. Absolutely, And I'm gonna give you an example of that. I know Ryan is here, young brother stand on a Ryan.

Yeah.

So this young brother we had, he was in Stanford NBA program, but we recruited him to join our company. But he negotiated the w NBA Sparks deal that we had and thank you for that too, that we entrusted this deal in this young brother's hand. Now we've owned this the Sparks for a few years. We haven't made a dime, right, It's been a tough going for the w NBA. Except now, hold on. There was a time when we said, shall we sell this? And we kept

Oh thank god. We didn't sell too.

Early, right, right, right, because now we only paid ten million dollars for the franchise. So when you think about that return we're gonna have, it's amazing.

So don't sell too early. Okay, I just wanted to point that out, Troy. I can just follow up real quick because it's right on path. I'll just follow up real quick because my next question is right on the path of what you said. My next question was going to be why did you liquidate? So you you just explained that that you that you liquidated just Starbucks.

Can you walk us.

Through why you liquidated, the deal of liquidation, and what you did with the money after you liquidated.

That's a great question. Should should I? Should I stay? Should we stay? I'm gonna just let's sit here. I'm gonna I'm gonna just do it like this. I'm never gonna change. So listen.

So when we built that hundred, we had a deal to build one hundred and twenty five Starbucks, and we did that in five six years. We were making so much money that Howard came in and said, well, first of all, let me take you back. They said it could never happen. Starbucks wouldn't last in the black community. H We proved them wrong, right, proved them wrong. We had to make some changes to make sure that Starbucks was successful in our community.

So we don't eat scone, So we.

Had to take the scones out of my Starbucks. Sweet potato pie peace Cobb Loska.

To me, kay.

So when you walked into my Starbucks, the field was different. The desserts were different, and definitely the music was different. So I customized it.

Oh this is important. Now get with me right here.

I customize it to my customer.

Oh, very very important.

I never made it about me where black folks fell is. You make it sometimes about you and your likes, Oh, not about what the customer like. So remember, always make your business about the customer, and then you will get the returns that you're looking for.

So I knew it was time. Howard Shows came to me.

And said, listen, we don't have to wait these next four years. We're making a lot of money. The multi balls already in the contract. So I start timing times that revenue. Who shoot, I'm good, VICKI. That's my financial person, VICKI. I go to Vicky for finance. I said, oh, I'm good. So I said, yeah, it's time for me to sell. And sure enough I sold Starbucks. And who would have

No stop, stop, stop, stop stop. Why did I do that?

First of all, there was no people of color being owner in Major League baseball. That's one reason. The second reason is I'm buying the Dodgers. The Dodgers got the biggest brand it's in baseball, them and the Yankees, those were the two biggest brands. So I knew it was gonna be a home run. And now I'm gonna give you the numbers. When we bought it two point two billion twelve years ago, the highest anybody had ever paid

I'm not sure should should we? I know, I know going back, I don't all right, I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna leap.

I just can't sit down when I'm trying to go with my people.

I just thought you was gonna go behind the back path. Yeah, yeah, I was ready. I'm in pocket. I was weighing. I had my hands ready for the past. Since man ain't not no, I know, I know, so, I mean, I'm just a little slower now at sixty six years old. We saw the jump shot too on the on the Yeah, we'll get to that.

Well, you talked about a lot there, but one of the things that was missing and gets you missing we kind of talked about the backstage is Yes, ownership is important from a financial side, also from a representation side. Talk about the importance of that, because in order to see something right, in order to be something, we have to see at first. So talk about the representation. Because there was a generation where we watched it, we don't know how.

They did it. You're doing it a lot different.

We've watched you play, We've watched you make these business moves. We've watched you put stores in locations that people wouldn't. We've watched you become successful. You've left clues for us. Talk about the representation park, Well, i'm gonna talk about you. Well, we got to remember something. It's not just about the money. It's about having a seat at the table.

Oh wait a minute, I didn't hear. Nobody wasn't.

What is our biggest challenge is that we don't.

Have a seat at the table.

So when you become successful, you're able to now have a seat at that table, and then you can help the city change. They include you on decisions that happen in the city or in different areas of the city that you live in.

So it's like the power and so that's what it's all about.

Yes we can it's a lot of people can make money, but we need to be represented. That's what you two brothers are doing right now, giving all of us a chance. You're representing the culture of these young people.

They see you and they see what you built.

This is amazing and this is just what we needed, right and so now hold on one second, you're driving twenty thousand people. The mayor got to come see you. What wait a minute, two black men driving twenty thousand here in the city. Oh, I got to have a

So that's what it's all about.

So you've invested in everything for movie theaters, Starbucks, the Dodgers. What is your fourth Obviously you have a great vision. What is your foresight to know something is going to be profitable ten years, twenty years, a good investment to put your money in.

Well, I think, first of all, I was ready to town. First of all, you.

Got to research the industry or the sector. So when you research the sector or the industry that you're investing in, you can see if it's been growing.

Right, So we'll go back probably five or.

Ten years to see if that sector that I'm going to invest in has been growing. And if I see growth, then I said, Okay, look like it's gonna be a good.

Investment for me.

But then we have an investment team of people try to break out down the investment, making sure it is the right move for us to make both financially and align it with our brand. Right because anything that you bring in you gotta align it with your brand. So it's very important. So right now we have contracts select so Magic Charles Johnson is doing a wonderful job.

Child's where are you?

Yes, yeah, Chiles, Brother Robbie is with them down us here yep. So when we think about we have more house contract Federal Reserve, we have contracts at the airport, we do delta, the headquarters on and on and on.

We knew that industry was.

Gonna grow because people gotta eat right, and so we understand that and has been grown. We're over a billion dollars in revenue now with this small company.

That's just shot. You said a billion dollars of revenue and two people clap Can we clap it up? That's not an everyday thing.

No. Well, the reason that's important is that we started from the ground on up, and so we wanted the same thing that happen for all of you.

Right.

Take, take your ideal, your strategy, start your company and build it right and so and scale it. And we were talking about how to scale. But scaling is so hard because you got to have the financial resources and then you got to have the right team in place.

If anything, I can tell you this is.

So important and it's gonna hurt a lot of feelings in this in this audience.

Please do not hire your family.

Oh oh oh oh unless they have the expertise. Whoa whoa whoa woa, unless they have the expertise. One has made more black businesses fail in America. Uh oh, because you hired your family member and they didn't have the expertise or they thought they could show up instead of nine o'clock. They showed up at twelve o'clock. I paid mine to stay away. Here you go to check or be on the way. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidd.

I wasn't gonna give me a game. I was waining.

But you brought up a billion dollars in revenue, and so that that word stuck in my head.

We have a common theme here at Investment US.

Every year we've been able to bring a billionaire to the stage.

I love that thing. I love that fae. I love that fame. Now the billionaires that we brought looked like us. That's what There you go, there you go.

Twenty twenty five list comes out Hervy Magic Johnson a billionaire.

Well, oh yeah, stand only your feet for.

That, right.

I wonder.

The kid that's walking on the campus in east Landson, Michigan. Your white to the man who's standing here today? Was that on the vision board? And what was that moment like when it? I mean for us in our minds, we already thought you were there, But now that it's been reported, what was this moment like for you?

Well, when I first started to know, it wasn't on the vision board. It was just being successful. See, my whole business thesis was to be successful for other people of color could come behind me.

Okay, now remember this.

See when I went to ten nine, ten banks, they all turned me down. They wanted the picture, they wanted the autograph, but they didn't want to loan me the money. Then I went up to Calpurr's this pension fund to get money because I was gonna start my real estate fund, and they turned me down three straight years.

Same thing. See, this hasn't been easy.

A lot of you think that, oh he magic Johnson, so it was easy. No, that actually worked against me. But I love the challenge. See, I'm not gonna run away. I knew my business thesis was strong. I knew my people. I knew what they wanted and what they like, So all I had to do was deliver it and then over deliver it to them.

Once I started my business, and so as I.

Became successful, first the Starbucks, the theaters, Magic Johnson theaters, and then I said, hey, I got to really get into a bigger business. So I needed somebody else's money to do that, to grow and have sustainability. So once the finally the bank said yes, I took that one hundred million dollars and turned it into what it is today. But stop, stop, stop, stop stop. Anything I've done is not just for me. It's so that you can come

Because if I.

Fail, then they ain't not gonna take a chance on another one.

So that's what it's about.

So when you build your business, you don't even other stand and it's not just about you. You're giving another young person, young lady, young man, a chance and an opportunity to say wow, if she made it or if he made it. I think I got a chance too. So what I always have my theme is I turned the impossible into possible. That's what it's all about, right, That's what it's all about. So I'm still on the basketball court. I just don't have the little hot pants

Nobody.

I'm a smart guy because I'm smart because I put smart people around me, and then I pay them.

To do their job. That part. Always remember that.

Hire smart people, pay them to do their job, and they'll help you become successful.

Clap it up for that.

So some other deals that people may not know you were involved in that didn't necessarily go your way, but great learning experiences.

I'm sure twenty four hour fitness is it plan?

No, twenty four hour Fitness TGI Friday, Yi Friday, Can you tell them about that experience?

Yeah, because some has failed, right, every business is not going to be successful. We had the number one TGI Fridays in the West in Los Angeles, and we were able to really do a fantastic job of over delivering to the community.

Then I built the second.

One here in Atlanta, and Atlanta supported me like crazy, but we were not ready for the volume of customers that came through our door, and we made a lot of mistakes and we had to close that Friday because it was on us, not on the people of Atlanta, and I learned a valuable lesson that we got to make sure we hire the best and talented people and they can drive unbelievable customer service. And we did not

Businesses that you do a better job.

And we've been better because of those mistakes we made back then, so every.

Business has not hit the home run.

And then also too, a lot of businesses I own hit singles and doubles, and that's okay. If you get enough singles and doubles, you're gonna make a lot of money anyway. So I think for me, it's learn from your lessons, learn lessons from your failure, excuse me, and then make sure that it doesn't happen again.

Amen. Amen, I'm just making sure. I'm just making sure I'm taking so well. You thought it was coming out, yeh, yeah, yeah, yea yeh. I'm just making sure.

So I want to talk about legacy a little bit because backstage I showed you some of my emails.

That's right, Yeah, it's a true story.

I got this email and it said Alicia Johnson, and I said, who's that I don't I never ordered from there, and my wife said, don't worry about that.

And then the next.

Week it said Alicia Johnson again, and I said, what is that? She said, oh, he's just these sunglasses I got.

I don't worry about that.

And then for the next six months, every three days I get another email from Alicia Johnson. So I said, I gotta figure this out. Who's this Alicia Johnson? Come to find out it's a close attachment to you.

It's your daughter.

So I want to talk about legacy and watching your kids walking their journeys of entrepreneurship obviously Dre and the EJ doing their things and their respective industries. What's that like, watching your kids carve their own path and creating Because I didn't know it was your daughter, it was the product that sold.

What's that like for you? Well, it's a great moment.

We all want our kids to be more successful than ourselves, you know, and so for me to be able to watch my kids be happy, first of all, and also to look at their dad or their mom and say, hey, I want to be like them.

Right. So, my daughter she went to Ft and she.

Love sunglasses, She loved the dress, so she said to me one day after she graduated, said Dad, I want to start my eyewear line and I want you to get me the seed money. And I said, okay, where's a business plan? She said what, I'm your daughter. I said, m M, you got to have a business plan. So she went crying to Cookie, Dad don't love me, you know, And so Cookie said, is that what he said? She said no, Well what did he say? He said, I have to have a business plan, so well, go right one.

Right.

You can always make adjustments, but adhere to your business plan.

And then my son Ej. I love him.

He's fabulous, you know, EJ gonna be EJ. And he's in entertainment doing a wonderful job. And then my son Andre works for me. Now it's it's kind of cool to go into office and see my son side by side and doing his thing with me. And so it's been it's been a joy to watch our three kids. And now we have two grandchildren. So it's a blessing, man, a real blessing, real blessing.

So I got to talk about mentorship.

You are a rookie, the Lakers, sensational player, and I believe you kind of isolated.

It was a level of isolation.

In the locker room because you made friends with the owner of the team, doctor Jerry Buss.

So you would have to bring this up. Go ahead.

So yeah, walk us through not only that relationship, but he taught you and what made you, at that young age have the foresight to go against the peer pressure of the older veterans and put yourself in that position.

That's a great question. Look, I was curious, man.

I knew I wanted to be a businessman, but I had to get up under somebody who was already doing it and so he could give me knowledge. So it happened to be the owner of the Lakers, doctor Jerry Buss, and.

I told him my dream.

After I was done winning championships with him, I wanted to.

Own businesses. And now you heard.

What I said first, right, you didn't miss what I said first, right after I'm done winning what? Okay, after I'm done doing what? See, I had to be serious with that basketball first, and once I did what I was able to do on that court in the summertime, I would then go and spend a lot of time with him for he can teach me. But I knew that it wouldn't have worked out if I wasn't successful on the basketball court. So I handled that business, got

I said, okay, what's going on. I thought we were gonna.

Talk about Larry Bird and the Celtics or something, how we're gonna defend him or something. They said, no, you can't be hanging around the owner.

No more.

It's an unwritten rule that players can't hang out with the owner. All the guys now they head like, yeah, So I took my time because I'm never gonna react first, I said, what can I say? I said, Okay, you guys are millionaires. Here a billionaire. I'm hanging out with a billionaire because oh stop stop shop, because he's.

The only guy that can help me go where I want to go. You see.

See, sometimes we forget about that and then don't let your friend. See don't let them say you can't go. See a lot of time our friend just because they want to stay where they are, They.

Want us to stay there too.

If I would have listened to them, I wouldn't be on this stage today.

See. So I stayed with that man.

He taught me so much and that's why I'm successful.

What did I do?

I took the knowledge that he gave me and brought it to the black community right and started building my business. So gain knowledge, as much knowledge as you can, be as smart as you can, study as much as you can, and always whether it's on your phone. I know a lot of time we don't read the newspaper. I grew up in the newspaper era, so I still read the newspaper. You guys, get everything on your phone. Make sure you just keep up with what's going on, the trends, what's happening,

It's very important. So again, no, I won't gonna let.

Them all they should be concerned about when I come down shaking and bacon and I throw that. No, look, they better be worried about delivering that basket.

That's it.

What I do on that court, that's their concern. What I do off that court wasn't they concern. Okay, I'm gonna handle my business on that court.

You handle your business in the boardroom as well. And selfishly, I talked to you backstage about it. One of the things I'm most proud of is that there now owner of the Washington Commanders.

Yes, sir, childhood team of mind.

But having black ownership in the NFL is probably one of the hardest things to do. Ye talk about that moment and partnering with Joe Harrison. What was that like being a part of our ownership group pitching to the NFL to say we need to change this franchise. Feel like you've done a great job. I appreciate that.

Man.

Well, first of all, you know, I got every team almost in terms of in every sport, I got a team almost right, and so the NFL was the last one. And I never thought it's gonna happen because I didn't see us. We see ourselves on the field and we take care of our business as players on that football field. We also we seen it in the coaching ranks and now sometimes even in the executive roles, but we hadn't

Black ownership here with the Falcons.

You know, now Denver black ownership, so now we're starting to see us being those roles as owners. Why that's important not only for myself, also for the players, right, they feel better about it as well. So it's been great for Cookie and Eye to be involved with the commanders and two in two years, we've turned it around. We're heading in a positive direction. The fans are back

And to do it in d C Man Chocolate City, the DMV.

Brother Man, it's a it's a beautiful thing. So again I can't stop working though. Let me tell you guys something. See, when you get there, it's hard to get there, but it's even high harder to stay there. M So when you get there, you just starting.

I know they waiting on me to make a mistake. I already know that.

So that's why I'm so careful about what I do, what I put out there on social media, how I am as a husband or father, now a grandfather.

So it's so important.

Because your business, that sussess can go just like that, just as fast as you got it.

It can go just that fast.

So make sure that you're making all the right decisions in the right moves, which is very important.

And so I always think back.

When I when we got the commanders man and cooking our we were on the plane, I said, baby, I remember when we had the peanut butter but no jelly.

I remember when.

We had the kool aid but no no sugar.

See, I went.

Back to how I grew up and and I just sat there on the plane thanking God for putting me in this position. But stop, stop, stop. But also I know what to do with it. Oh oh oh oh see. You gotta know what to do with it when you get blessed, and make sure you bless others. That's why I've been blessed, because I blessed others, and that's that's what's important. So yeah, I'm feeling good, and it's a

This, give yourself three years.

I want you to then go home, talk to your partner, wife, husband, whoever, and say, honey, give me three years. I went to Cookie and said, I need three years to be on the road. I got to build my business, but it's our business. Can you handle the kids for three years without me being there a lot? She said, honey, go do your thing, and look what happened. You see because if you get longer than three years, that means you you haven't put one hundred and fifty percent into building

What a black what the black people need? Access? Man? Man, I gotta come back.

You don't even have to pay me when I come back next time, you don't even have to pay me.

I'm coming back older two holder two.

Stop, stay up, stop, stop, stay up now. Thank thank you, love your back to love your back for real. I want you to know something and hear this. We were both taught, all three of us, was talking about this the last year generation, a couple generations back, all those successful black men and women took the knowledge to the grave with them. That hurt our community.

See.

I'm standing here in front of you because I want you to be successful and always remember it's enough room for everybody. We forget that, we forget that. Look what happened. Let me now sit down, Look what happened. Now. I gotta give you this look Junior Bridgeman before he passed away, basketball player, billionaire Lebron Michael Jordan. You see, it just keeps going. It's enough room for everybody.

And when Michael and I see each other, we patty each other on the back. Man, can you believe it? Can I beat him?

Now? He got that one on one thing. See, I'm always gonna be honest with myself.

The only thing I beat.

Michael in is them no little passes and leadership.

Oh talking about it.

It ain't no question, just like it ain't no question what he.

Gonna do to me, dunks and all that.

But you know that's what makes him a bad boy and the best that's ever done it.

Don't don't get it twisted. I love Lebron, but mm hmm no, no, no, no, yeah, we got that documented, that documented. Okay, I shot you heard that. Hold up? You know Lebron's I love my boy. I love him. But when Michael.

Jordan took go on with that Tarlil, hold up, hold up, hold up, listen, because a lot of you wasn't born then, nineteen ninety one against my Lakers right hand, we thought we had him.

He looked as we went down, he switched it to the left. Here Tom went left, spunning against the glass and good. There's nobody alive that's been able to do just that. That boy is too bad, I'm telling you right now. But Lebron is a bad boy too. He's a bad boy, but he's not Michael. Appreciate that magic.

Look at it.

Look at that face right there.

Oh my staying on that. I always wanted that.

I ask you this question as a basketball fan, that Barcelona experience. I mean, we watched documentaries and all that. What was it like being with the greatest players of all time, greatest team of all time? What's the story that maybe nobody knows?

Like, what's that?

What's a great memory from you on that dream team? Okay, well, let let me first put it in perspective. First. See, see I learned.

I'm a visual learner, and also I learned what I read and so on and on.

So we go to Spain. I'm jumping ahead and reason for that.

So we go to Spain and they're having this big reception and we're on this yacht. The air conditioning go out in the yacht, so they had us all go off the yacht and go back on the bus. Another yacht pulls up, so we all get on the second yacht. So we're talking to the guy and I'm talking to the guy, excuse me, and I said, man, that's crazy. A second yacht came up. Well, who's yacht that broke down?

He said?

The guy said, it's my yacht. I said, well, who yacht is this one? He said, this one is mine too. I said that let me know wealth, wealthy rich. It is a whole different thing. And I said, wow, I want to be like him. I tell him this story. Mickey Erison, or the owner of the Miami heat He changed my life because that let me know that I had a long way to go. And I thank him for talking to me that whole time. So we're Monico and Prince Raynier to us in the Big Castle and

You know? Drop some knowledge on me? Man. I stood over there for about thirty.

Minutes talking to him about Monico.

And on and on and on. You know what he did?

He called his son and daughter over and introduced me to them. Said, as long as Magic is here, you hang out with Magic. So they took me to the nightclubs and on and on and on.

But guess what now his son the same one I was hanging out with.

It's the Prince of Monico, now right, I said. See, that's why I'm glad. I ran over there and Matt the man. But why am I saying this? Sometimes you gotta step out that group that you in.

Oh oh oh, oh oh oh.

You keep hanging around the same people, you only gonna get the same results. Oh, get out of your comfort zone when you go to that function and it's somebody.

Over there, go on over there.

Hey, I'm so and so just want to say I admire you, or how did you get to where you are it takes two or three minutes, but sometime we are.

No, I don't want to bother them or I'm not like that.

I'm gonna go over there and get me that knowledge that I'm looking for, and it has.

Paid off for me. So you that elevator speech is real.

So when you got those three minutes riding up that elevator, take advantage of that.

So the Dream Team was the greatest.

Basketball I've ever been involved in. And to be the point guard on that team and represent the NBA and our country, and but just to be able to hang out with Michael and play with him. Finally, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, the Slimmer was the Slimmers, Child Barklay, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullen, Clyde Drexer, and I mean it was just amazing. We just job, you know, we just it's the greatest team ever assembled. And so I'm excited to say I was on that team.

Yep.

But before we go, you talked about the yachts, you talked about your image on social media.

We saw you on the treadmill.

I mean, we saw you on the tread mill. We saw you with the basketball court on the yacht. It talks about earning your leisure, which is obviously our name and our brand, but being able to vacation and find balance and find peace with your family. Talk about the importance of that and all this man, because it's chaos, but you find tell them.

Well, I can't do this without that. You know, I love dating my wife. So when I go on those six weeks, we're able to date.

And there's like two veried people here. They clubs like that section right there.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

And so it's a lot of fun.

And because you know, when I'm grinding, I'm grinding, so I'm working, So this gives me a chance to be with my family. And then last but not least, when I was traveling is important, right, so you can.

See the world.

And I love traveling, Cookie and I just love it. And so I remember when Denzel see Denzel introduced yachting to me, and I seen that I was able to open it up for a lot of other blacks to now go. And Cookie and I have been yachting now for thirty two years. So it's a blessing to to do it. But at the same time. This is what I want you to take from that. When I was in Montico in nineteen ninety two, we just talked about this.

See it didn't happen right away because I didn't have enough money. But what did I do? In three years?

I say I'm gonna be on that yacht. And what happened? In three years? I was on that yacht. See what you say, you've been yachting for three years, or you will be yachting in three, four or three years. See that's that's that's it. We just listen. We want to open it up for our people to know that traveling is wonderful.

It's not about the yacht. Whatever you can do.

I just saw Luda, Chris and Kevin Hurt out there. That's great, let's keep doing it. But the main thing is understand that you can do it one day if that's what you want to do. Now, everybody stand up. No phone in your hand. I don't want nothing in your hand. First of all, let's give God some glory because we're here right. I can't hear you come on now, now,

How to take yourself to the next level. I can't hear you. Come on.

God has placed two vessels in your life right.

Here, two kings. And you know what.

It hasn't been about them. It's been about.

You and.

M h.

All right, So let's start off with the If somebody gonna be a millionaire in the.

Next three years, clap two times.

All right, doc, if you're gonna be a more time.

Millionaire in the next three years, clap. Okay, okay. I'm about to draw this one. I'm about to draw this one. I'm about to draw this one.

Billionaires let me here.

But all right now, just do me a favor.

I don't care who next to you, because it's gonna take a village to do this. I wanna grab people hand right quick. Let's go right next to you. Bow your heads because God gonna put that favor on you and it's gonna happen. Oh Heaven and Father, we say thank you, thank you, and thank you. Why are we saying thank you because you woke us up this morning. Thank you for these two incredible men who have decided to bless not only themselves in their own families, but all of us in this auditorium.

You are using them so.

That they can bless others and they can be successful right along with all of these incredible people.

Now, I know that you have the power and.

The tools to make everybody in this room successful. And if they follow you and keep you on their hearts, they will definitely be successful. So touch everybody, Bless everybody as they leave this incredible auditorium and this incredible convention, that they can be multi millionaires, millionaires and billionaires. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen, God bless you.

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