Basketball Legend Michael Jordan Joins Upper Deck Board of Directors.Entertainment Editors/Sports Writers NOTE TO MEDIA: A photo is available in a Smart News Release(TM) on Business Wire's Home Page at www.businesswire.com and at www.newstream.com CARLSBAD, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 2, 2001 Few athletes hold as coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. a position within corporate America as basketball legend Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. . Even fewer have taken business relationships beyond endorsements to pursue an active role in a company's strategic direction. Today, The Upper Deck Company The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , the nation's premier sports/entertainment publishing company, announced the addition of Michael Jordan to its board of directors and an equity shareholder in the company. Upper Deck and Jordan: Innovative Partners In addition to a stake in the company, Jordan is teaming up with Upper Deck's executive team to develop new products that continue to heighten innovations, quality and authenticity standards in the collectibles industry. "We're looking forward to Michael's involvement with the company. We value his keen business mind and sense of strategy and welcome his influence in guiding the company in the years to come," said Upper Deck founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Richard McWilliam. Jordan has been an outspoken athlete on the issue of memorabilia authentication and sees his partnership with Upper Deck's board of directors as an opportunity to contribute to the company's pioneering role in ridding the market of forgeries. The FBI estimates up to 70 percent of autographed memorabilia found in the marketplace is fake. Because Jordan is a favorite target of forgers, Upper Deck remains the most trusted source for Jordan autographs today. "I am excited to join the Upper Deck board and increase my strategic and business involvement with the company. I have had a long-term relationship with Upper Deck and look forward to assisting and guiding the company in the decades to come," said Jordan. UD: Authenticity Pioneer Since Day One when McWilliam founded Upper Deck in 1988, authenticity has been a central theme for the company's products. As a startup the company revolutionized the trading card experience through the use of sophisticated printing technologies and a trademark hologram See holographic storage. that protects its trading cards from being counterfeited. In 1992, McWilliam extended the company's authenticity theme to autographed memorabilia when he founded Upper Deck Authenticated and created a groundbreaking, patented five-step authentication process. The authentication system The combination of authentication server and authenticator, which may be separate devices or both reside in the same unit such as an access point or network access server. The authentication server contains a database of user names, passwords and policies, and the authenticator physically provides sports fans with a guaranteed legitimate source for autograph collectibles. To date of record, Upper Deck devotes more resources than any other memorabilia manufacturer to ensure the authenticity of its products. The heart of its five-step process is the company's policy that an Upper Deck representative must witness each autograph signed by any one of its stable of athlete superstars such as Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. , Ken Griffey Ken Griffey may refer to:
"Upper Deck is continually developing innovations in trading card products and authentic memorabilia from some of the greatest athletes of all time," said McWilliam. "Our solid relationships with sports legends such as Jordan and our leadership in authentication strengthen our reputation for quality in the marketplace." Jordan/Upper Deck Milestone Jordan's new expanded relationship with Upper Deck marks another milestone in the company's association with the world's most popular athlete. (Two years after the athlete's retirement from professional basketball, Jordan still dominates fan popularity polls conducted recently by ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Sports and SI for Kids.) Jordan has been an exclusive spokesperson with Upper Deck since 1993 when he was in the early stages of his career. According to McWilliam, Jordan's close relationship with the company began long before he reached mega stardom. "We were impressed by Michael's talent and potential very early in his career and quickly signed him on as a spokesperson. Since that time, Upper Deck has produced hundreds of Jordan products with enormous appeal among the collectors," said McWilliam. "It is an honor to extend this relationship with Jordan as a member of our board and integral influence in the company's strategic development and creative process." The Upper Deck Company, LLC is a premier sports/entertainment publishing company, which delivers a portfolio of relevant, innovative and multi-dimensional product experiences to collectors, sports and entertainment enthusiasts. Founded in 1988, The Upper Deck Company, LLC is located in Carlsbad, Calif. Note: A Photo is available at URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.040201/bb7 |
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