Shaquille O’Neal likes to keep a low profile in public, always joking around about trivial things for the entertainment of his fans. However, Shaq is one of the most shrewd investors to ever play in the NBA. The Big Diesel has used his handsome NBA salaries as capital to create a staggering $400,000,000 Empire post-retirement. During a Q and A session with fellow entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck a few months ago, Shaq addressed several questions of fans regarding business and investing. Halfway through the show, the big man opened up on his relationship with Gary Vee and how he could immediately relate to him the very first time they met.
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Gary Vee has been a popular media personality and business influencer on the Internet for a while now. During Vaynerchuck’s Q and A session with Shaq on his YouTube channel in November of last year, a fan asked both the elite investors what they learned from observing each other throughout the course of their interactions together. Vaynerchuck highlighted Shaq’s unmatched curiosity to learn about new things and admitted how that quality of the Lakers legend has always fascinated him. The 47-year-old believed that his curiosity has been a defining factor for Shaq’s astronomical growth in the past decade or so.
Shaquille O’Neal relates to Gary Vee for speaking his language
In response to the same question, Shaquille O’Neal admitted that he has learned a lot from Gary Vee as well over the years. The Big Fella pointed out that Vaynerchuck spoke his language, which allowed him to relate to the Belarusian-born businessman from their very first encounter.
“The reason why I started listening to Gary is because he speaks my language. I can’t relate to the Harvard, Facebook suit guys. I can’t,” Shaq said. He added that he met Gary Vee for the first time at a TNT executives’ meet. The Diesel admittedly didn’t pay much heed to the veteran entrepreneur because of his casual clothing. However, hearing him speak prompted Shaq to move to the front row.
Vaynerchuck has a very candid and passionate way to address his thoughts. Part of his widespread appeal among the masses is that he avoids complex jargon to drive home his thoughts to people. This is the kind of rhetoric Shaq prefers, simple language to convey complex ideas.
Shaq paid 15 of his friends to complete his MBA degree
As mentioned before, Shaq is not a fan of business jargon in the workplace. Therefore, he felt insulted when people used to ignore him while conducting business and only addressed his representatives.
As a result, Shaq decided to pursue his MBA from the University of Phoenix. However, the University refused to enroll him in an offline program unless there were 15 more students. Therefore, Shaq paid the tuition of 15 of his friends to finally complete his MBA degree. But seems like he still prefers Gary Vee’s simple lingo to business mumbo jumbo.
