Michael Jordan and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of the world’s richest and most famous members of professional sports, recently purchased different versions of the Gulfstream G650, with images of the exteriors posted all over social media.
Ronaldo, who now plays for the Saudi football club, Al Nassr, is considered the world’s highest-paid athlete, reportedly making a €203 million ($213 million) salary last year, with another €60 million ($63 million) from sponsorships and business ventures, according to Euroweeklynews.com. Ronaldo reportedly listed another Gulfstream he owned for sale in 2022.
Ronaldo’s Gulfstream G650, with a reported value of $72 million, has a shiny metallic body featuring his initials, CR7, along with a figure of him striking a celebration pose. The aircraft is a long-range that can accommodate up to 19 passengers, with a range of up to 7,500 nautical miles. Until the recent Gulfstream G700 was introduced to the market, the G650 was the company’s largest long-range jet.
Ronaldo, considered soccer’s highest-paid athlete, recently traded up his G200 for the G650.
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The fuselage of Michael Jordan’s G650ER (ER stands for “extended range”) is also distinctive. Spokespeople at Nike, Jordan’s management company, Jump Brand, and Jordan’s NASCAR team, 23XI Racing, did not respond to attempts to confirm the boss’s ownership, but there’s little question the jet that has been making the rounds on social media belongs to His Airness.
Like Jordan’s previous jet, the new one has a livery painted to match the pattern of the latest Air Jordan sneakers—although in a darker shade of gray—features his Jumpman logo and utilizes the tail number NL236MJ. For those without a decoder ring, 23 was in his jersey number, six was the number of NBA titles he won with the Chicago Bulls, and MJ are, obviously, his initials.
Michael Jordan’s new G650ER has a similar, very recognizable livery to his previous business jets.
Flickr, Getty
The G650ER has an extended range that covers more than 8,600 nautical miles and a top speed of over 700 mph with a cruise speed around 650. The base price rings in at about $70 million, but with upgrades and customization it can push past $100 million.
Standard variations on the 650’s interior allow seating for up to 19 and sleeping for 10 in as many as four living areas as well as a galley and two lavatories. The potential add-ons include a full-width bedroom and luxury bathroom. That flexibility makes it popular among the business-jet crowd, with an owner’s list that includes Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Oprah Winfrey among others.
The G650 has been one of Gulfstream’s most popular models, with more than 500 examples built since it launched in 2008.
Gulfstream
The upgrade comes amid a flurry of retail activity for the 61-year-old Hall of Famer, who has a reported net worth of $3.5 billion. In 2023, Jordan sold his controlling interest in the Charlotte Hornets for a reported $3 billion to focus on his car racing team. And in September he finally unloaded his 56,000-square-foot Chicago-area mansion for $14.9 million, having listed it for $29 million in 2012.
Jordan also recently purchased a one-of-a-kind $2.2 million electric Pininfarina Battista Targamerica to add to his extensive car collection. The cars go along with an 80-foot Viking sportfishing yacht—Catch 23—at a cost of around $7 million, and in 2022 he bought the 244-foot Abeking & Rasmussen, M’Brace, for $115 million.