How Starbucks Supercharged Magic Johnson’s Ambitions
On the latest episode of The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly, the NBA legend-turned-businessman describes his cornerstone investments.
Magic Johnson, right, on The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly, recorded at the Milken Institute Global Conference last month in Beverly Hills, California.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson will always be best-known for his basketball prowess. But when it comes to business, he credits football and coffee for his best deals so far.
In the three decades since his retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers, Johnson has created a blueprint for what a former athlete can achieve off the field or court. He calls joining the ownership team of the Washington Commanders with Josh Harris “the greatest deal I’ve ever done.” But it was winning over Howard Schultz to become a Starbucks franchisee in 1998 that was his seminal moment. “It gave the stamp of approval,” Johnson says in the latest episode of The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly, recorded in front of a live audience at the Milken Institute Global Conference last month in Beverly Hills, California.