Shaquille O’Neal, one of the NBA greats, has dominated the court for years. From his powerful backboard glass-shattering dunks on the court to dancing on his own beats as a DJ, to splashing cash on lavish properties, Shaq has truly done it all.
The 3-time NBA Finals MVP has also shown tremendous growth acumen for business for which he has someone to give credit to.
Shaquille O’Neal reveals Jeff Bezos inspiration in recent endeavor
Shaquille O’Neal recently revealed that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos inspired him to invest in a community college startup. The Lakers legend said, “I heard Jeff Bezos say, if you invest in things that are going to change people’s lives, you’ll always get a great return on your investment.”
The online startup, Campus, aims to provide easily accessible education for the next generations. Emphasizing on the importance of learning, Shaq added, “But this particular investment is not about great return because I feel that everyone should have access to world-class education.”
Launched in 2022 by Tade Oyerinde, a college dropout with a vision to make a positive impact, Campus aims to bring about change by providing accessible education.
Other investors, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Discord founder Jason Citron, joined forces to raise over $29 million for the startup. The 4-time NBA championship winner further shared that this wasn’t the only instance where Jeff Bezos influenced his decision-making.
Shaq, at 51 years old, had initially considered buying the NBA franchise Phoenix Suns. However, upon discovering that Bezos was also bidding, he decided to step back, avoiding competition with the billionaire.
Shaq O’Neal’s business portfolio
Shaq showed off his business savvy with several well-planned investments that has resulted in increasing his wealth. Since spending $1 million in 30 minutes, Dr. Shaq has wised up to have a more sustainable financial expenditure framework.
Unbeknownst to many, Shaq is in fact an investor in Google. He first heard about Google from two of its employees and got intrigued by its operation. Soon he became one of the investors in Google and later in Apple Inc.
Apart from these big investments, he has also been a part of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Lyft Inc., Ring and VitaminWater. The list doesn’t end there. The fitness maniac has 40 24-Hour Fitness gyms, 150 car washes under his control.
The 7-footer also owns multiple Papa John’s outlets, 17 Auntie Anne’s pretzels and a few Krispy Kreme restaurants. Later he sold all his shares of Five Guys Burger & Fries stocks that had given him ownership of 155 outlets previously.
The president of Reebok basketball also has associations with Icy Hot, Gold Bond and Forever 21. With all these returns on his investments, it is not hard to understand why Shaquille O’Neal’s net worth has reached half a billion.
