This is Magic Johnson’s Biggest Investing Regret

We all have regrets and sometimes in matters of finance can be found some of the biggest ones.

NBA legend Magic Johnson is no stranger to regrets in the investment world and despite being a five-time NBA champion, he is still bigger about not getting free Nike stock.

“I was 19 years old, just won that national championship after beating Larry Bird and I was about to sign a shoe deal. Converse came in and everyone at that time was wearing Converse because of Dr. J. So Converse came in and offered me some money. And then this guy named Phil Knight came in, and Nike was only like one or two years old. He said he doesn’t have a lot of money but will offer me stock. I was 19, didn’t know a lot. And, so the rest is history,” Johnson said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

Johnson ultimately said no thanks to Knight and Nike in 1979 and signed with Converse instead.

Nike went public on December 2, 1980 and today has a $145 billion market cap, according to Yahoo Finance data. In 2003, Nike spent $305 million to buy Converse.

Johnson is still doing well as the founder and CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE) which has an estimated valuation of $1 billion.

Johnson’s net worth is estimated to be around $600 million.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and have not been compensated for this article.