20 of 44
BACKNEXT
20. LeBron James
Forward, Miami Heat
Age: 25
Rank change: New
Industry: Sports

How many people can stop the pulse of a country? James's primetime signing with Miami this summer was slammed as a publicity stunt, but his brand emerged unscathed. It was the latest marketing bonanza seeded by his own company, LRMR, which James and high school friends have built over four years. LRMR has brokered James's deals with McDonald's and State Farm; a Sports Illustrated tally ranks him No. 4 on its list of top-grossing athletes, with an estimated $42.4 million this year.

Off-season sport: James was spotted golfing with Warren Buffett last summer.

By Scott Cendrowski, reporter


NEXT: 21. Ryan Kavanaugh
Last updated October 14 2010: 1:25 PM ET
40 under 40
Highest paid under 40
Highest paid under 40
Which young executives at public companies brought home the most bacon this year? And exactly how much bacon are we talking about? More
Where is the economy heading?
Where is the economy heading?
This year's innovators offer their economic predictions for the next few years and beyond. More
Ones to watch
Ones to watch
They may not have made the list this year, but we're keeping an eye on these rising stars. More
Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.