Magic Johnson came into my consciousness in the late 1970s as I was growing up in Michigan. He was a star high school player and again in college playing for Michigan State University. He led State to the NCAA Championship, beating Larry Bird and the undefeated Indiana State Sycamores. When Magic left to play in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers, I kind of disowned him, especially when he would play against my beloved Detroit Pistons. But his professional career was highlighted and defined by a continued rivalry between himself and Larry Bird (not to mention 5 NBA championships and 3 MVPs).
Johnson has long been retired from the NBA and has become an extremely successful businessman, which includes owning movie theaters, Starbucks Coffee franchises, and also being part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was also on the board of the payment company Square Inc. And now he’s taking on a new kind of competition. Infrastructure.
It may not be as tough as going head to head with Larry Bird in the early 80s, but with the amount of infrastructure that needs to be addressed, it may very well end up being his greatest challenge yet. It’s a project to which he is so dedicated, that he has just resigned from Square Inc. so that he could devote most of his time and energy toward his new infrastructure fund, JLC Loop Capital Partners.
Johnson wrote, in part, in his resignation letter to Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Square, “As you may know, President Obama announced that the federal government would spend $7–$12 trillion on the US infrastructure over the next 10 years. With this in mind, I launched an infrastructure fund, JLC Loop Capital Partners, to take advantage of the development opportunities nationally. Initially I thought it would take some time to raise capital, however, my team and I were fortunate that the first investor we approached invested $1 billion. Within the 1st quarter of 2016, we have over $1.3 billion in our newly formed fund that will require a significant and unwavering time commitment from me as I work to secure contracts around the country.”
I think it’s worth repeating. He was able to secure a $1 billion dollar investment from the first investor he approached.
In its “Failure to Act, Closing the Infrastructure Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future” report, the American Society of Civil Engineers says, “From 2016 to 2025, each household will lose $3,400 each year in disposable income due to infrastructure deficiencies; and if not addressed, the loss will grow to an average of $5,100 annually from 2026 to 2040, resulting in cumulative losses up to almost $34,000 per household from 2016 to 2025 and almost $111,000 from 2016 to 2040 (all dollars in 2015 value). Over time, these impacts will also affect businesses’ ability to provide well-paying jobs, further reducing incomes. If this investment gap is not addressed throughout the nation’s infrastructure sectors by 2025, the economy is expected to lose almost $4 trillion in GDP, resulting in a loss of 2.5 million jobs in 2025.”
Perhaps Magic Johnson can save our infrastructure like he saved the National Basketball Association. Do you think he would need Larry Bird?
As you know, I’ve become accustomed to highlighting this blog with some sort of video for you to watch for a few minutes. This week is going to take a bit longer, but I think it’ll be worth your time. It’s an HBO sports documentary on the rivalry between Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird.
