Adam Silver Net Worth (Money & Salary)

Adam Silver’s Net Worth and Salary: What Is It?

Adam Silver, an American businessman, lawyer, and sports executive, boasts a net worth of $40 million. He is the fifth and current commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Contract and Salary

Every year, Silver earns a salary of $10 million. In June 2018, the NBA renewed his contract, which extends through the 2023-2024 season. By the end of this contract, he will have accumulated precisely $100 million in salary from the league. It’s likely that he also receives bonuses for reaching various milestones and targets related to revenue and expansion.

Background and Early Career

Born on April 25, 1962, in Rye, New York, a suburb of New York City, Adam Silver graduated from Rye High School in 1980. He pursued higher education at Duke University, majoring in political science. Following his graduation in 1984, Adam served for a year as a legislative aide for Les AuCoin, a U.S. House of Representatives member. Subsequently, he attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he earned his J.D. degree in 1988. After law school, he clerked for Judge Kimba Wood in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before joining the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore as an associate.

Career in the NBA

Silver became part of the NBA in 1992, taking on the role of Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer for eight years. During this time, he participated in significant initiatives like negotiating the league’s last three collective bargaining agreements with the National Basketball Players Association, launching the WNBA, developing the NBA Development League, creating NBA China, and forming a partnership with Turner Broadcasting to manage the NBA’s digital assets. Besides these roles, Silver has also been the Senior VP & COO of NBA Entertainment, NBA Chief of Staff, and Special Assistant to the Commissioner. While at NBA Entertainment, he acted as executive producer for the IMAX movie “Michael Jordan to the Max” (2000), the documentary “Whatever Happened to Michael Ray?” (2000), and the films “Like Mike” (2002) and “Year of the Yao” (2004).

In October 2012, then NBA Commissioner David Stern publicly supported Silver as his successor when announcing his plans to step down from the role on February 1, 2014.

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In late April 2014, Adam Silver faced his first significant challenge as league commissioner when he had to address racist comments made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Sterling was recorded making blatantly racist remarks to his girlfriend. Within days of the tapes surfacing, Silver and the NBA decided to impose a lifetime ban on Sterling from all NBA activities.

they could compel him to sell the team. This action was among the most stringent penalties ever directed at the owner of a professional sports franchise.

Among other significant events that Silver has navigated as commissioner is a 2019 tweet from Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets, which expressed support for the 2019 Hong Kong protests. This tweet ignited political contention and raised concerns regarding the collaboration between the NBA and China. In response to Morey’s tweet, China reacted unfavorably, suggesting a potential severing of relations with the NBA. Silver, in contrast, defended Morey, asserting his right to free expression and freedom of speech.

Throughout his career, Silver has garnered numerous accolades and recognition within the sports industry. In 2016, “Sports Business Journal” ranked him #1 on their list of the 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business. The same year, he was honored by “Time” as one of the 100 Most Influential People and recognized by “Fortune” as one of the 50 Greatest Leaders. Additionally, in 2014, he received the title of Executive of the Year from “Sports Illustrated.”

Personal Life

Since 2015, Silver has been married to his wife, Maggie, and they share one daughter. Adam serves on the Board of Trustees at Duke University and was honored with the 2016 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Chicago Law School. Moreover, he is a board member for the Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation.