Word: johnson
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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This heads-up approach got its impetus early in his hoop career when he witnessed the fleecing of fellow Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who lost millions to unscrupulous financial advisers in the 1980s. Johnson dumped his own advisers and started demanding monthly statements from his new ones. He realized that Magic Johnson was a brand name as well as his own, and that he wasn't benefiting from it. So he became the first active N.B.A. player to be a league licensee. "I just kept seeing all these people wearing my T shirts, and I was not getting a dime...
...Sony Retail Entertainment, the New York City-based parent of Sony Theaters, which had long been interested in trying to develop movie theaters in minority areas but lacked the entree. "It's a real business that makes economic sense." But Sony couldn't pull off any deals until Johnson and his business partner, venture capitalist Ken Lombard, now president of Johnson Development, approached with one in 1993. Says Ruisi: "We have the expertise in building and operating theaters. What we didn't really have was a great way to get to those markets. When we spoke to Ken and Earvin...
...retired jock and a guy who left Michigan State after his sophomore year, Johnson brings a sophisticated business mind to the game. "The Magic Theatres work because we do our homework," says Johnson, who was always interested in business while he was playing ball. "I don't know everything, but I get caught up on what I don't know." He's got some fancy tutoring too. Among those who help him brush up on balance-sheet analysis is former Walt Disney Co. president Michael Ovitz, a close friend. Adds Lombard: "Earvin is a tremendous businessman. He has the same...
...Johnson isn't all business. For fun (O.K., and for profit) he leads a traveling basketball show called the Magic Johnson All-Stars around the world like a rock tour, playing exhibition games against foreign basketball teams. And since he lives in L.A., it was only natural for him to get into entertainment. He has signed a production deal with Fox Family Films, and is wrapping up another to act as host on a syndicated talk show for Twentieth Television. Johnson will be co-executive producer of the talk show with his longtime agent, Lon Rosen. Once again it will...
...home, rented a car or stayed in a hotel recently, you have probably encountered the handiwork of a high-powered, low-profile tycoon named Henry Silverman. Once a top Wall Street dealmaker, Silverman now runs a superfast-growing company called HFS that owns a collection of brands from Howard Johnson to Century 21 to Avis that have made it the world's largest and most aggressive franchiser. "You'd have a lot of difficulty finding another company this size that is growing this fast," says Smith Barney analyst Michael Rietbrock. How fast? In 1995 HFS had sales of $413 million...