Junior Bridgeman Net Worth - Growing $350,000 Into Millions

Could you guess that Junior Bridgeman is the second-richest basketball player of all time? Junior Bridgeman net worth is huge, which is second only to Michael Jordan. Bridgeman played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers for 12 years and made about $4 million.

Junior Bridgeman made $350,000 in a season when he was at the top of his game. And while that's a good salary, it's not even close to what modern NBA stars like Michael Jordan and LeBron James make.

Quick Facts About Junior Bridgeman

Who Is Junior Bridgeman?

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Junior Bridgeman's career as a basketball player and business owner has made him a lot of money. Bridgeman is now one of the richest former athletes in the world. As the owner of Ebony and Jet magazines, he lives a very comfortable life.

Ulysses Lee "Junior" Bridgeman was born in East Chicago, Indiana, in 1953. As a child, he played basketball for the Washington High School Senators, who were unbeaten at the time and went on to win the Indiana State Championship. Bridgeman went to college at the University of Louisville.

In 1974 and 1975, he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. As a senior, he led the Cardinals to the final game of the 1975 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, but they lost to UCLA. In the 87 games he played in college, he had an average of 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

Junior Bridgeman Career

In the 1975 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers picked Bridgeman as the eighth player in the first round. This was the start of his professional basketball career. But just three weeks later, the Lakers traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks along with David Meyers, Brian Winters, and Elmore Smith for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley.

Bridgeman got even better with the help of coach Don Nelson. In 1976, when his team lost to Boston 129-125, he scored 41 points, which was his career-high. Bridgeman won a lot of division titles with the Bucks in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984.

Bridgeman played for the Bucks for nine straight seasons, but in the end, he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. Before coming back to Milwaukee, he was gone for two seasons.

In his 12 years as a professional basketball player, he played more games for the Bucks and scored more points than anyone else in the team's history.

Bridgeman spent most of his career as a sixth man. He averaged more than 10 points per game for nine straight seasons, and it was thought that he would have won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award more than once if it had been created before the 1982-83 season.

Bridgeman played in a total of 849 games, and from 1985 to 1988, he was the president of the National Basketball Players Association.

Junior Bridgeman Net Worth

Junior Bridgeman is an American who used to play professional basketball and now runs a fast-food business that is very successful. He is worth $600 million. Junior Bridgeman played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA for 12 years.

During that time, he had a fairly successful career. The most he ever made in a single season was $350,000. He put all of the money he made into fast-food franchises, in particular Wendy's food chains.

He is now one of the wealthiest athletes in history and a great example of how to be successful after leaving professional sports.

NBA Career Earnings Of Junior Bridgeman

Junior Bridgeman played professional basketball from 1975 to 1987. This was right before players started getting paid a lot of money. Junior knew that he wouldn't have much time to play in the NBA.

At some point, he wouldn't get any more paychecks, and he'd have to find a new steady source of income. So, on a whim, Junior bought a franchise of Wendy's, which was his favorite fast food place.

• Bridgeman never made more than $350,000 per season during his best years in the NBA.
• When Bridgeman retired, he had made $4.2 million over the course of his career.
• After he left the NBA, he invested in 160 Wendy's restaurants and 120 Chili's restaurants, making him the largest Wendy's franchise owner until he sold everything in 2016.
• At the height of his business, he had over 11,000 employees and made an estimated $530 million a year from his restaurants.
• At the moment, his annual income is estimated to be $32 million.

Bridgeman has become very rich because of the smart investments he has made in the restaurant business.

Wendy's Franchises Of Junior Bridgeman

While other NBA players hung out during the off-season, Bridgeman worked at a local Wendy's, where he learned everything he could about his new business and built a solid foundation for his and his family's future. Junior had three Wendy's by the end of his playing career.

Over the next few years, Junior grew Bridgeman Foods Inc. little by little. From three places, there are now six. Six turned into ten. Ten became 20, then 30. The business did very well because of how hard Junior worked.

Bridgeman Foods, Inc. Of Junior Bridgeman

By 2016, Bridgeman Foods Inc ran more than 160 Wendy's and more than 120 Chili's franchises. Bridgeman has more than 11,000 employees and makes more than $530 million a year.

Junior owned the second-largest Wendy's franchise in the world and was often named one of the most respected business leaders in the United States. He also bought Fazoli's and Blaze Pizza franchises.

He sold his fast-food chain in 2016. 116 Bridgeman's franchises were bought back by the company that owns Chili's. About $300 million was made each year at Bridgeman's Chili's locations.

Junior Bridgeman Coca-Cola Bottling

Bridgeman started working for The Coca-Cola Company as a bottler in 2017, and in 2018 he signed a letter of intent to buy Canadian bottling operations. Junior is now the head of Coca-Cola Heartland and the president and CEO.

He and his son, Justin, run the company, its factory in Lenexa, Kansas, and its 18 regional distribution centers. Heartland does business in most of Kansas, a big part of Missouri, a little more than half of Illinois, and a small part of Nebraska.

Heartland helps charities like the Crittenton Children's Center at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City and the Crisis Nursery and St. Patrick Center in St. Louis. Bridgeman tried to buy Sports Illustrated from its parent company in 2018 but failed.

Ebony And Jet Magazines Of Junior Bridgeman

Ebony and Jet Magazines, which have been important parts of Black media for decades, filed for bankruptcy in 2020. Ebony and Jet filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection after it came out that they had not paid back more than $10 million in loans. This is when assets must be sold to pay off debts.

And in December of that year, Bridgeman, who had set up Bridgeman Sports & Media specifically to buy media properties, was able to buy the magazines for $14 million.

Interesting Facts About Junior Bridgeman

• As a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, he played 711 games, which at the time of his retirement was more than any other player.
• In his 12 years in the NBA, Bridgeman scored a total of 11,517 points.
• Bridgeman worked at Wendy's franchise during the off-season to learn more about how they run their business.
• After Bridgeman left the NBA, he put his money into 100 Wendy's and Chili's restaurants.
• In 2017, he started the Heartland Coca-Cola company and became an official Coca-Cola bottler as the CEO of Bridgeman Foods Inc.

People Also Ask

Why Is Junior Bridgeman So Rich?

Junior Bridgeman is an American who used to play professional basketball and now runs a fast-food business that is very successful. Junior Bridgeman played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA for 12 years. During that time, he had a fairly successful career.

How Did Junior Bridgeman Get Rich?

Bridgeman owns both Ebony and Jet magazines at the moment. Bridgeman never made more than $350,000 a year in the NBA, but he still has a net worth of over $600 million. This makes him one of the richest former athletes in the world.

What Business Does Junior Bridgeman Own?

Bridgeman used to work at Wendy's, but now he owns more than 400 of the restaurants. He also owns 125 Chilli's restaurants, which makes him the biggest and most successful NBA player to invest in a franchise.

Conclusion

Junior Bridgeman was a good basketball player, but it was mostly his business ventures that made him as rich as he is now. Bridgeman played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers for a total of 12 years.

He then bought fast-food franchises and is now one of the wealthiest athletes of all time. As of January 2023, it is thought that Junior Bridgeman has a net worth of $600 Million.