Magic on using his Starbucks money to buy the Dodgers: “There were no people of color who owned a team in MLB”
Magic Johnson is a legend on the court and in the business arena. After winning multiple championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, Earvin embarked on a business journey that has generated billions of dollars and created numerous employment opportunities. The man truly is one of the finest human beings on the planet.
Magic tweaks Starbucks’ menu
Johnson’s path to a net worth of $1.5 billion was marked by careful maneuvering and astute decisions. In 1998, he started on an interesting quest to expand the Starbucks brand into urban communities.
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Magic grew up in the inner cities of Michigan, and so he knew his market like the back of his hand. Johnson tweaked the menus by removing scones and replacing them with pound cake, Sock It to Me cake, and sweet potato pie — items the urban consumer wants.
“I customized it for my customer,” Johnson said, via “Earn Your Leisure”. “Very, very important. I never made it about me. Where Black folks fail, is you make sometimes about you and your likes, not about what the customer likes.”
This was the same tactic Johnson used in his theater chains — he knew that Black people ate dinner at the movies, and so rather than serving popcorn and hot dogs, Magic tweaked the concession stands by adding Buffalo wings, pizza, and popcorn shrimp. He also added Kool-Aid with different flavors.
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Buying the L.A. Dodgers
The tweak proved pivotal. Starbucks grew in inner cities and proved Johnson’s hypothesis that urban customers have ample spending power, as long as they are provided with what they want.
Magic and Starbucks built 125 franchises in a span of five to six years. He was out to create more, but then, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz came to him and said, “We don’t have to make these four years, we’re making a lot of money.”
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Magic checked his financial books, did some calculations, and found out Schultz was right. He could walk out of the partnership with millions in his bank account. In 2010, Johnson sold his stake back to the coffee company for $100 million. However, the story did not end there.
In 2012, Johnson and his business partners acquired the L.A. Dodgers for a record $2.3 billion — the highest price paid for a professional sports team at the time. Magic explained why he jumped on this opportunity as if by instinct.
“Why did I do that? First of all, there were no people of color who [owned a team] in Major League Baseball. That’s one reason. The second reason, is I’m buying the Dodgers. The Dodgers got the biggest brand in baseball. Them and the Yankees, those are the two biggest brands. So I knew it was going to be a home run,” he explained.
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Now, the Dodgers are reportedly valued at $7.5 billion. During the Johnson era, they appeared in the World Series five times. They’ve snagged two World Titles and are gunning for a third against the Toronto Blue Jays.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Nov 2, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
