After retiring from his career in basketball, Shaquille O’Neal has made headlines in the field of business by virtue of some lucrative deals and wise investment decisions. The mantra behind Shaq’s staggering $400 million net worth has been seeking the help of experts while making important decisions. In fact, the Diesel likes to surround himself with competent people who can guide him in the right direction. One such man was Leonard Armato, who helped Shaq sell 200,000,000 pairs of shoes and build a business mindset early on in his career. Therefore, O’Neal decided to give him a shout out on his newly created Threads account.
Advertisement
Armato has been credited for creating the SHAQ brand. Shaq wanted to create his own brand, like that of Michael Jordan’s Jordan brand. However, he wanted to create his brand independently, rather than collaborating with any major company. Armato understood the assignment and managed to capture Shaq’s unique and charming personality to create a very likeable image of the big man, which brought him a boatload of business deals and offers for commercials.
Shaquille O’Neal shows some appreciation for Leonard Armato
Armato once called Shaq a ‘cross between Bambi and the Terminator’. This showed the veteran agent’s perfect understanding of his own clients. After his failed stint with Reebok, O’Neal started making affordable shoes for kids from low-income backgrounds under the banner Dunkman.
Shaq retained the ownership of his brand and reached an agreement with ACI International and Warner Bros. to distribute and fund the program. Armato devised some alternative ways to sell shoes, like creating the website Dunk.net. However, the dot-com crash in America would thwart his efforts significantly, to the extent that Shaq would eventually have to part ways with him.
However, it’s very obvious that the big man is grateful to Armato for helping him create his own individual brand. In fact, the Diesel recently shared one of Armato’s videos on his Threads account, where the veteran representative talks about the importance of internships while starting out in the professional world. Shaq captioned the post, “”surround yourself around people smarter than you.” Dr. Shaquille O’neal. @leonardarmato taught me when i was just 18 years old. #listenandlearn.”
Post by @shaqView on Threads
The Lakers legend reiterated one of his popular quotes to educate his followers willing to learn how to be successful. Meanwhile, Armato expressed his gratitude to Shaq for the shout out, in his LinkedIn account. He wrote, “I am humbled and grateful to have played a small part in building the brand of one of the most iconic and loved people in history. There may never be another as successful, respected and revered as Shaquille O’Neal! Thank you, Shaq!!”
It’s pretty obvious that both Shaq and Armato share an amicable relationship despite not working together. Their appreciation for each other shows the mutual respect they have.
