Michael Jordan is one of the most famous names in the world. His career spans more than 20 years, with six NBA Championships, 10 scoring titles, and two MVP awards. After retiring from his playing days, he became part-owner and president of basketball operations for the Charlotte Hornets franchise.
He has taken on a new challenge as CEO of his latest venture, an aviation company called Michael Jordan Aviation. He also invests in other companies through Jordan Company Investments such as Hanesbrands and Apple Inc. However, before all this success, one thing eluded this superstar: marriage.
Learn about how MJ finally found love and got married!
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MJ’s History of Marriage
Michael Jordan has been married twice to Juanita Vanoy and Yvette Prieto. He had two sons with his first wife Juanita and one with his second wife Deloris. His current wife is Yvette Prieto, a Cuban-American model who he married in April 2013.
The first marriage was annulled without the couple ever living together. The second marriage ended in divorce after six years of marriage and one child together.
MJ was then engaged to local news reporter, Katie Cook at the time but she broke off their engagement within days of Michael’s third marriage to Yvette Prieto on April 27th, 2013 at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya Resort in Mexico.
Here is a nice video about MJ`s wives and children.
Michael Jackson`s First Wife
MJ’s first marriage was to a woman named Juanita Vanoy. The couple married in 1989 and divorced in 2006. They have three children together, Jeffrey Michael Jordan, Marcus James Jordan, and Jasmine Marajh.
Juanita filed for divorce from MJ on grounds of adultery. It was reported that the alleged mistress was a professional golfer who MJ met during a celebrity golf tournament.
The divorce settlement cost MJ $168 million dollars and allowed him to retain all property rights to his name and likeness.
Since their divorce, Juanita has been outspoken about the challenges she faced with MJ’s infidelity and gambling addiction. She claims that he gambled away $10 million during their marriage alone!
Jordan`s Second Wife
Michael Jordan was never able to find a woman he wanted to marry while playing in the NBA. Not many wives would be willing to share their husbands with big egos and a public image.
In 1993, he met Juanita Vanoy at a charity golf event. She had been working for Nike for 12 years before meeting MJ, she was also married at the time of their introduction.
Juanita divorced her husband in 1994 and married Michael later that same year. The couple actually met on Valentine’s Day which is ironic because it is the day they became engaged.
They were together for 17 years but then separated in 2002 after Michael filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason.
While most people assumed that his workaholic attitude led to the end of their marriage, others believe that MJ had an affair during their separation with singer/dancer Karrine Steffans who wrote the tell-all book Confessions Of A Video Vixen about her tryst with him.
After their break up, DeBarge dedicated one of his songs to Juanita called “I Like It”.
Michael Jordan`s Third Wife
Michael Jordan had previously been married twice before to Juanita Vanoy and Yvette Prieto. But, basketball was never a top priority for either of them.
“I had two failed marriages, so I said to myself, ‘You know what? You better not get married again,'” he told the New York Times in 2013.
But there was one woman who finally changed his mind: Jasmine Jordan.
Michael first met his third wife at a business meeting in Charlotte. Though it took over four years, she finally convinced him that he should be more serious about settling down with her.
Jasmine Jordan is a former NBC reporter and has a son with Michael from a previous relationship.
The couple got engaged on Christmas Day 2009 and were married on April 27th, 2013 in Florida by Billy Graham at the Palmetto Club, an event space near St. Augustine.
No one can be like Michael Jordan. But maybe you can learn something from MJ’s history with marriage.
MJ’s first wife was Juanita Vanoy. The two married before he became famous. Vanoy was also pregnant with their child at the time. Jordan’s dad’s mistress had also filed for divorce, so he had to marry Vanoy to keep his family together.
The second wife is Yvette Prieto. They met through an arranged meeting and married in September 2013. They have three children together and are still together as of this date.
The last piece of advice MJ has for you is that there is no one way to have a happy marriage, but you should be sure that you’re having fun.