Magic on using his Starbucks money to buy the Dodgers: “There were no people of color who owned a team in MLB”
Magic Johnson He is a legend on the field and in the business world. After winning many championships Los Angeles LakersEarvin embarked on a business journey that generated billions of dollars and created numerous employment opportunities. The man is truly one of the nicest people on the planet.
Magic is making changes to Starbucks’ menu
The path to Johnson’s $1.5 billion net worth was marked by careful maneuvering and shrewd decisions. In 1998, he started an interesting search to expand his product range. Starbucks bringing branding to urban communities.
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Magic grew up in Michigan’s inner cities, so he knows his market like the back of his hand. Johnson modified the menus by removing donuts and replacing them with items wanted by urban consumers, such as brownies, Sock It to Me cakes and sweet potato pie.
“I customized it for my customer” johnson in questionvia “Earn Your Free Time.” “It’s very, very important. I’ve never made it about me. Where Black people fail, do you sometimes talk about yourself and your likes and not about what the customer likes?”
This was the same tactic Johnson used with theater chains; He knew that black people dined at the movies, so Magic tweaked the concession stands by adding Buffalo wings, pizza, and popcorn shrimp instead of serving popcorn and hot dogs. He also added Kool-Aid with different flavors.
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Buying the LA Dodgers
Fine-tuning proved crucial. Starbucks has grown in inner cities, proving Johnson’s hypothesis that urban customers have ample spending power as long as they are provided with the things they want.
Magic and Starbucks created 125 franchises over a five- to six-year period. He was trying to create more, but then Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz came to him and said: “We don’t have to earn these four years, we make a lot of money.”
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The Magic checked their financial books, did some calculations, and realized Schultz was right. He could have exited the partnership with the millions in his bank account. Johnson sold his shares back to the coffee company in 2010 for $100 million. But the story didn’t end there.
In 2012, Johnson and his business partners purchased the LA Dodgers for a record $2.3 billion; this was the highest price paid for a professional sports team at the time. Magic explained why he jumped at the opportunity as if on instinct.
“Why did I do this? First of all, there weren’t black people doing this.” [owned a team] In Major League Baseball. That’s one reason. The second reason is that I’m buying the Dodgers. The Dodgers got the biggest brand in baseball. They and the Yankees, those are the two biggest brands. So I knew it would be a home run.” he explained.
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Currently, the Dodgers are reportedly worth $7.5 billion. They have appeared in the World Series five times during the Johnson era. They have captured two World Championships and are competing for a third against the Toronto Blue Jays.
This story was first reported by: Basketball Network First appeared on November 2, 2025 Out of Court section. Add Basketball Network at: Preferred Source by clicking here.
