Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Professional basketball icon Michael Jordan was ranked very highly on “The Celebrity 100” and “The World’s 50 Highest-Paid Athletes” lists, appearing in the July 5, 2004 issue of Forbes magazine.

Among the Celebrity 100 (which is based on money, fame and “relative star power”), Jordan was ranked seventh; behind Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, the Rolling Stones and “Harry Potter” creator/author J.K. Rowling; and ahead of Bruce Springsteen, Steven Spielberg, Johnny Depp, David Letterman, “Lord of the Rings” director/producer Peter Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Jim Carrey, Formula One car racer Michael Schumacher, Jennifer Aniston, Kobe Bryant, Barry Bonds, Tom Hanks and The Olsen Twins, among others.

Among the World’s 50 Highest-Paid Athletes (which is based on estimated income from June 2003 to June 2004), Jordan is ranked fourth with $35 million; behind golfer Tiger Woods ($80.3 million), Formula One’s Michael Schumacher ($80.0 million), football’s Peyton Manning ($42 million); and ahead of basketball’s Shaquille O’Neal ($31.9 million), basketball’s Kevin Garnett ($29.7 million), tennis’ Andre Agassi ($28.2 million) and soccer’s David Beckham ($28.0 million).

Other racers on the list were NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon and Formula One’s Ralf Schumacher.

Jordan is also the driving force behind the Michael Jordan Motorsports AMA road racing team, which fields Montez Stewart.