1. Birth: Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is the son of James Jordan and Deloris (Peoples) Jordan
2. Marriages: Michael Jordan has been married twice: first to Juanita (Vanoy) Jordan (September 2, 1989 – December 29, 2006) and now to Yvette Prieto (April 27, 2013 – present)
3. Divorce: His divorce with Juanita Jordan cost approximately USD 168 million and is the 8th most expensive in world history. In first place is Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, who had to part with a whopping USD 4.5 billion!
4. Kids: Michael Jordan has 5 children: 3 with Juanita Jordan: Jasmine (September 7, 1992), Marcus (December 24, 1990) and Jeffrey (November 18, 1988). He has 2 with Yvette Prieto: twins Victoria and Ysabel (February 9, 2014)
5. Education: Michael Jordan holds a B.A. in Cultural Geography from the University of North Carolina, 1986
6. Performance: Michael Jordan played 15 seasons for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards basketball teams. He is considered by many to be the best basketball player in the history of the world
7. Career: He won his first NBA championship in 1991 for the Chicago Bulls and followed that up in 1992 and 1993. However, in the 1993-1994 season, he interrupted his basketball career to play baseball, which coincided with the death of his father (his father was murdered in a rest stop by two teenagers on July 23, 1993). In 1995, Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls, making them NBA champions in 1996, 1997 and 1998. He retired from basketball again in 1999, but returned and played two seasons for the Washington Wizards from 2001 – 2003. He then retired from basketball for the third and final time
8. Nicknames: Michael Jordan’s nicknames include ‘Air Jordan’ and ‘His Airness’, mainly due to his ability to jump and slam dunk, but also his collaboration with clothing manufacturer Nike and his talented agent, David Falk, who came up with the whole ‘Air Jordan’ concept
9. Gambling debt: In the book ‘Michael & Me: Our Gambling Addiction’, Richard Esquinas (former manager of the San Diego Sports Arena) accuses Michael Jordan of owing him $1.25 million – a debt allegedly built up in a single day on the golf course. In 1992, Michael Jordan admitted that he had written a personal check for $57,000 to a drug dealer. According to Jordan himself, the money was to cover a gambling debt
10. Economy: In June 2010, Forbes Magazine ranked Michael Jordan as the 20th most powerful celebrity in the world. This was based in part on his estimated income of approximately USD 55 million between June 2009 and June 2010. His income in 2013 was estimated to be USD 80-90 million. In June 2014, he became the first billionaire among all NBA players ever. This happened after he increased his stake in the Charlotte Hornets basketball team from 80% to 89.5%

Fact: Michael Jordan has a habit that has become his trademark over time; sticking his tongue out of his mouth when he is concentrating. The habit stems from his father, who also used to stick his tongue out of his mouth when he was concentrating, for example

More facts about Michael Jordan

• Happy meal: For a while, Michael Jordan ate the same meal before every game; a 650 gram steak with baked potato and a ginger ale
• Nike: His original “shoe contract” with Nike was supposed to earn him $2.5 million over 5 years; but he has made much more money from this – and many other – contracts since. Although he has done a lot of advertising for Nike over the years, he prefers Adidas
• McJordan: In 1992, McDonald’s launched a burger in the US called the ‘McJordan’, for which they had developed a special barbeque sauce called ‘McJordan BBQ sauce’. As part of the launch, Michael Jordan was the first person in the public to eat a McJordan. However, the campaign was short-lived and the burger was quickly taken off the market. However, in 2012, a 20-year-old bottle of McJordan BBQ sauce surfaced and was sold on e-bay for $10,000 USD!
• Teammates: Michael Jordan once said of his white teammates: “The white guys work hard, but they don’t have the talent”
• Other sports: Besides playing basketball, Michael Jordan AA played baseball (Minor League Baseball) in his younger days. Today, he plays a lot of golf
  Manicure: Every 10 days he gets a manicure
• Betting: He once bribed an airport employee to win a bet with his teammates. The bet was on whose luggage would roll out of the baggage carousel first
• I: When former assistant coach Tex Winter told Michael Jordan that “there’s no i in the word team” Jordan replied that “there is an i in the word win“

The first pair of ‘Air Jordan’ shoes were designed for Michael Jordan in 1984. In the 1980s, a total of 4 models were released and since 1990 a new model has been released every year. Pictured (from top left to right) are the Air Jordan I, IV, V and VI