Michael Jordan Makes Forbes' 2015 World's Billionaires List

Jordan’s $1 billion puts him well below Microsoft founder Bill Gates, named “the richest person on the planet”

Michael Jordan has officially joined Bill Gates and nearly 2,000 others on a list of the world’s billionaires.

Forbes has released their World’s Billionaires List for 2015, naming a record 1,826 people to the rankings, including the basketball legend himself. This year’s list includes 290 newcomers bringing the total number of billionaires up from 1,645 in 2014.

Jordan, who recently became a majority shareholder in the Charlotte Bobcats, sits at 1,741 on the list, thanks in large part to his Nike “gravy train” as Forbes reported.

Jordan’s $1 billion puts him well below Microsoft founder Bill Gates, named “the richest person on the planet” with a net worth of $79.2 billion.

Several others with Chicago ties also made the list, including Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf who made the list at no. 1,415.

For the most part, the Chicago billionaires are not surprising names, with many repeats like Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, Real Estate mogul Sam Zell, Beanie Babies creator Ty Warner and Groupon’s Eric Lefkofsky.

Griffin and Zell are the highest-ranked Chicagoans on the 2015 list, with Zell topping out at $6.5 billion.

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