Earvin “Magic” Johnson to open the 2024-2025 LMC Speaker Series

Entrepreneur and Two-time Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson to open the 2024-2025 Lake Michigan College Speaker Series

The Lake Michigan College Mendel Center welcomes entrepreneur and two-time basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson as the first guest of the 2024-2025 LMC Speaker Series on Friday, Aug. 23, in Grand Upton Hall. A pre-speaker buffet dinner will be served at 5 p.m. The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. Attendees can choose from the dinner and presentation ticket package or presentation-only tickets.

During his LMC Speaker Series appearance, Johnson will share experiences and lessons from his ground-breaking business career and time as a champion on the basketball court.

Johnson is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Magic Johnson Enterprises, an investment conglomerate that provides high-quality products and services that focus primarily on ethnically diverse and underserved urban communities. Having left the basketball court for the boardroom, Johnson parlayed the skills and tenacity he acquired on the court into a winning formula for his successful business ventures.

For the last two decades Johnson has consistently turned heads with his unprecedented partnerships. In his early years as an entrepreneur, he forged an alliance with Sony Pictures to develop Magic Johnson Theatres. In 1998, he teamed with Starbucks to become the only franchisee in the history of the company, acquiring and eventually selling 125 stores in a lucrative move which further solidified his position in the business world. Both ventures served as catalysts for redevelopment in urban communities and are widely recognized as the corporate blueprint for engagement and success with urban consumers across America.

Still a commanding presence in the sports world, Johnson made history in 2012 when he became co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a Major League Baseball franchise that was purchased for an astronomical $2 billion dollars. It was the highest purchase price for any professional sports team at the time. He also co-owns the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club, NFL’s Washington Commanders, and eSports franchise Team Liquid.

Johnson continues to expand his influence through a number of other investments. He currently has controlling interests in EquiTrust, a multi-billion financial services company, and SodexoMAGIC, a food service and facilities management company.

The Lansing native is constantly evolving and remaining relevant in a dynamic digital age by broadening his scope into infrastructure and technology. In 2015, Magic Johnson Enterprises and Loop Capital formed an alliance to create MJE-Loop Capital Partners. The firm raised a fund committed to investing millions of dollars on infrastructure improvement in the United States.

In 2022, Johnson released his first non-fungible token project with Dapper Labs, leading the first ever successful Anthropology set in company history. He is currently expanding his business acumen into the metaverse, announcing his investment and ownership of a football and basketball team with SimWin Sports. He is also one of the leading investors in a number of minority-owned technology companies that include Uncharted Power, an award-winning power and data infrastructure technology company, and Jopwell, a diversity and hiring recruiting platform.

The accomplishments and global impact of Earvin “Magic” Johnson are on display in They Call Me Magic, the only first-person account of Johnson’s life from childhood to business. The AppleTV+ project was the top selling documentary series per episode when released in 2022.

Johnson currently serves on the board of directors for Fanatics, a sports licensing company. With his unique positioning as a businessman spanning multiple industries and generations, he aims to help companies expand and foster a positive impact domestically and globally.

Tickets for the Earvin “Magic” Johnson LMC Speaker Series event are available now and may be purchased online 24/7 at www.TheMendelCenter.com/events.

This event is sponsored by Michigan Pizza Hut, Inc. and Sturgis Bank – St. Joseph Banking Center, with special appreciation to General Motors Corporation.

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About the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center

The Lake Michigan College Mendel Center raised the curtain on its first Mendel Center season performance in the fall of 1992. Since then, it has presented performances and guest speakers to more than half a million patrons in the 1,559-seat Mendel Center Jenkins Theatre. Grand Upton Hall, first opened in 1979 and fully renovated in 2019, is a 13,700-square-foot venue serving the community as the host site for meetings, banquets, trade shows, weddings, and other celebrations. The 229-seat Hanson Theatre, which was renovated in 2020, hosts numerous Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department performances as well as a variety of Mendel Center and community events.

The Mendel Center is 30 minutes from Niles and 40 minutes from the Kalamazoo and South Bend areas. It is located on the Lake Michigan College campus at 2755 E. Napier Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan, one mile east of I-94 (Exit 30) and one mile west of the US 31 Bypass (exit 24). Its GPS mapping address is 1100 Yore Avenue, Benton Harbor, MI.

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