Early life, family, educational background
Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto was born on 26 March 1979, in Cuba, to Carlos and Maria Prieto. Her brother’s name is also Carlos Prieto; they were raised by their parents in Kendal, Florida, where Yvette attended the University of Florida to study business management, and her brother runs a sneaker store in Miami.
Career
Yvette has been modeling professionally since her early twenties and often works with famous fashion designers including Alexander Wang. Most of her modeling gigs were bikini photoshoots and commercials. Before modeling, she worked at Beet the LBS as a manager and at Aqua Management, a property management firm. She also spent some time working at her parents’ company and then at a hospital. She quit her job at her parents’ company after a few disagreements with her brother.
In 2011 she appeared in a documentary entitled “Cuba: An Island Apart.”
“Hola!” reported that Yvette has gotten more into charity work after leaving her modeling career. She and Michael posted photos of themselves packing boxes of food for charities on their social media.
It appears that she retired from the modeling and business industries once she started a family. She does have an interest in politics. Yvette initially considered herself a Republican, but her views made her later become an Independent. She does not speak out often, but when the situation calls for it, she is happy to stand up for what she believes in.
Personal life
Yvette dated Julio Iglesias Jr. in the early 2000s; Julio is Latin singer Enrique Iglesias’ older brother. Their father, Julio Sr. was arguably the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world, and Enrique was dubbed the ‘King of Latin Pop.’ Julio spoke about Yvette in an interview when they were still dating, ‘I can count on one hand the girls I have dated seriously. Yvette is the third and… the third time’s the charm. She’s a fantastic girl and I like her. Aside from her beauty, which is obvious, she is a loving, simple, and very good person.’
In 2002, Yvette filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after struggling with some financial difficulties. She fixed her financial situation after two years.
She met Michael Jordan at a Miami nightclub in 2008, and the pair immediately hit it off, becoming friends before taking their relationship to the next official step; Michael had been divorced from his first wife for a year at that point. Soon after, they began dating and eventually moved in together in 2009, into a $300,000 three-bedroom suburban house in Kendal, Florida.
They became engaged at Christmas 2011, while vacationing in Monaco, and married two years later on 27 April at the Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida – according to “Hello Magazine,” the ceremony and celebration cost about $10 million. The 500-long guest list was full of close family and friends, including A-list celebrities such as Robin Thicke, Usher, and Tiger Woods; the former two both sang at the reception. Yvette wore a stunning J’Aton Couture gown. “Hola!” shared that the couple ‘… donated their wedding flowers to the Jupiter Medical Center.’ The happy couple asked their guests to not give them anything as a wedding present, but rather donate money to James R. Jordan Foundation – the foundation was named after Michael’s father, who was murdered on 23 July 1993 in Lumberton, North Carolina.
Reportedly 1,500 guests joined their reception ceremony at the retired pro golfer Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, Bears Club in Jupiter, Florida. Not long before their wedding, Michael built a house at the community golf course. Their Florida home is 38,000 square feet and sits on a three-acre plot. The house has a pool house, a basketball court, and 11 bedrooms. They own several other properties, some of which are located in Salt Lake City and Charlotte, Chicago.
Yvette and Michael signed a prenuptial agreement stating that if they ever divorce, they will each keep anything that belonged to them before their marriage. Yvette will also be granted $1 million for every year she was married to Michael, but if they were married for at least ten years at the time of their divorce, she will receive $5 million for every year they were married.
Yvette announced her pregnancy on 30 November 2013, and gave birth to their twin daughters, Ysabel and Victoria Jordan on 9 February 2014. She is also the stepmother to Michael’s children Jeffrey, Jasmine and Marcus whom he had with his first wife. In 2019, Yvette became a step-grandmother to Jasmine’s son with Rakeem Christmas, a professional basketball player.
The family lives in their Floridian mansion estimated at $20 million. “Echo Fine Properties” reported that ‘Jordan’s house has 11 bedrooms, six on the second floor alone, a two-story guard house, an athletic wing together with basketball court, and a lavish workout facility. It’s rumored his huge media room with state-of-the-art electronics is ‘cigar friendly.’
They like to keep their personal life private and stay out of the public eye as much as possible. The only time the couple is seen together in person is when they are attending events. They do not have social media accounts.
Appearance
Yvette stands at 5ft 5ins(168cm) tall, making her much shorter than her 6ft 5ins (198cm) husband. Yvette is Hispanic, so has dark brown eyes and dark hair that she regularly dyes blonde.
NBA WAG Yvette Prieto in a dark green triangle top bikini at a party and with a massive 💍 #greenbikini #diamondring #diamonds💎 #bikini #yvetteprieto #michaeljordan #wags https://t.co/dHwDAZ1K11 pic.twitter.com/EWV0RsD1Ta
— CelebrityBikiniStyle (@celbikinistyle) March 14, 2018
Net worth and salary
As of June 2022, Yvette’s net worth is estimated at $50 million, which sounds very impressive, but is only a fraction of her husband’s wealth, estimated at $1.7 billion. According to Forbes’ 2022 Billionaires List, he is one of the richest retired athletes.
Family’s personal life
In 2001, Yvette’s family and employees in their company were accused of insurance fraud. After investigations, her family billed their insurance companies for services that were not provided, which resulted in them illegally collecting more than $400,000. Her parents were convicted of fraud charges and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Because Yvette has already left the company, she was not incriminated along with her family, but she did declare bankruptcy soon after.
Who is Michael Jordan?
American former professional basketball player and now businessman Michael Jeffery Jordan, was born on 17 February 1963 at the Cumberland Hospital in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City, USA. Michael’s father, James R. Jordan Sr. was an equipment supervisor, and his mother, Deloris (née Peoples) was a bank employee. He is the fourth of five children, with an older sister, Deloris, two older brothers, James R. Jordan Jr. and Larry, and one younger sister named Roslyn. In 1968, his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he attended Emsley A. Laney before studying at a state college from 1981 to 1984. He played in his high school’s baseball, football and basketball teams, then later tried out for his university’s basketball team in his sophomore year, but was denied for being too short.
Michael was drafted to the NBA in 1984 as a shooting guard. He played for the Chicago Bulls from 1984 to 1993 and again from 1995 to 1998, and for the Washington Wizards from 2001 to 2003. Michael achieved a lot of success in his career, winning six NBA champion awards, six NBA Finals MVP awards, five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, 14 NBA All-Star selections, among many more. He also won two Olympic Games gold medals, in 1984 and again in 1992 as a member of the ‘Dream Team’.
On 2 September 1989, Michael married his first wife, Juanita Vanoy in Las Vegas, Nevada at A Little White Wedding Chapel. They have three children together as previously named. The pair filed for divorce for the first time on 4 January 2002 supposedly due to irreconcilable differences, but made up soon after. They filed again in 2006, this time settling amicably with the marriage legally dissolved on 29 December. Juanita received $168 million in the largest celebrity divorce settlement at the time.
Michael is a renowned gambler – he covered $57,000 in gambling losses in 1992. In 1993 during the Bulls’ NBA playoffs, he was reportedly seen in Atlantic City, New Jersey, gambling the night away before the Bulls played against the New York Knicks. In the same year, author Richard Esquinas published a book in which he shared that Michael lost $1.25 million to him on the golf course. In 1995 and 2006, the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, denied claims that Michael’s 1993 retirement was actually a suspension by the league for his gambling habit.
Ed Bradley discussed gambling with Michael in 2005 for “60 Minutes”, during which the former basketball player admitted that he made poor decisions, ‘Yeah, I’ve gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away, and I’ve pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? If you’re willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah.’ When asked if his gambling ever got to the point where he had to jeopardize his family or livelihood, Michael denied that it ever happened. Director Ron Shelton premiered his documentary entitled “Jordan Rides the Bus,” and in 2010 he shared that he began working on the documentary because he too believed that the NBA suspended Michael. However, after the director did further research into the topic, it ‘convinced [him it] was nonsense.’
Michael’s son, Jeffrey, is a co-founder of the Jordan Avakian Group; his other son, Marcus, ran his own shoe store located in Disney World, but is now an online store. His daughter Jasmine works as a Nike Jordan Brand Specialist – making her a representative for her father’s shoe brand and NBA athletes. She also works with the Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, and a bunch of other sports teams.
