When Shaquille O’Neal hit the megastar league with his nine-figure Lakers deal, his agent Leonard Armato had a brilliant plan to turn him into a brand. However, the plans went bust when Big Diesel incurred significant losses in the dot com crash.
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It was essential for Shaq to turn himself into a brand, given his increasing popularity over the years. This was one of his first steps toward building his business. Shaq’s agent Armato had called him a “cross between Bambi and Terminator” because of his enticing corporate image. And the lure of the dot-com era was too hard to resist.
Following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan and the other stars before him, Shaq was out to build a brand around his name. The significant difference here is Jordan and others like Magic Johnson built their brand value in collaboration with other brands.
Shaq had intended to try to do the same as an independent athlete. A 2002 article in the New Yorker mentioned this pursuit by Shaq and his agent Leonard Armato.
Shaq first tried launching an online clothing and shoe company called Dunk.net. This project, however, remained on the shelves and never launched following the dot-com crash. Shaq also tried establishing his personal motto, “The world is mine,“ as a brand called TWIsM. Alas, that project was a bust as well.
After encountering such losses and failures in his initial business attempts, Shaq fired Armato. Later, speaking of his relationship with Armato, Shaq commented,
“We made history together. It’s not the end of a relationship. It’s just a different relationship. I still value Leonard as a friend and advisor.”
Subsequently, Shaquille O’Neal established his own personal management company to oversee his financial affairs. He hired Penny Rogers as his agent and appointed his uncle Mike Parris as his manager.
