Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time and has been retired since 2003 when he last played for the Washington Wizards. MJ made a lot of money while playing for the Chicago Bulls, but his Nike Air Jordan Brand shoes made him much richer in just one year.

According to an infographic on PBS.org about Sneaker Culture, "Jordan made more money selling sneakers ($100 million) than he did during his entire 15-year career ($94 million) in 2014, making him the highest-paid retired athlete in the world last year." In a report by ESPN, the figures of his salary have not been adjusted for inflation.

"His Airness" joined the Forbes' list of billionaires earlier this year due to the rising values of NBA franchises. According to another Forbes report, Jordan currently owns 89.5 percent of the Charlotte Bobcats that has an estimated value of $750 million.

The value of NBA teams skyrocketed when Steve Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers last August 2014 for $2 billion. That deal created two more billionaires, owners of Chicago Bulls' Jerry Reinsdorf and Houston Rockets' Leslie Alexander.

According to a separate report from Forbes, the Air Jordan brand is a financial success for Nike. The Jordan brand made up 58 percent of the company's market share in the U.S. in 2014. Its owners, Nike, only had 37 percent, but overall, Nike had 95.5 percent of the market. Competitors like Adidas only had 2.6 percent share, Under Armour at one percent and Reebok 0.8 percent.

Jordan also outsold LeBron James, who is the highest earner among shoes in active NBA players as he sold eight times than "King James." An analyst who monitors Nike said that the company did an excellent job with the Air Jordan brand. "Nike has done an unbelievable job evolving the Jordan Brand from pure basketball to a more lifestyle brand. That inherently pulls in a much larger target market," Eric Tracy said via Forbes.

According to Basketball-Reference, MJ only earned around $90 million for his entire NBA career. He signed his rookie contract worth $6 million for four years before making around $23.5 million for the next six years including $3.85 million during his first retirement.

He signed a whopping one-year, $30 million deal in 1997 and $33 million the next year after the New York Knicks reportedly offered MJ a $20 million per year contract, as reported by Ball is Life. The six-time NBA champion retired after the 1998 finals but signed with the Wizards in 2001 for a two-year, $2 million deal.