“I lost $250,000 from my car washes because I was irresponsible”: Shaquille O’Neal, worth $400 million, broke down his major financial flub

Shaquille O’Neal broke down how he ended up misplacing/losing $250,000 during his first few investments in coin-based car washes. 

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the savviest businessmen in the North American sporting world as he’s amassed an incredible $400 million net worth following the end of a successful 19-year NBA career. ‘The Big Aristotle’ has accumulated a majority of his wealth through a bevy of investments and endorsements over the decades. 

Shaq’s journey into the realm of finance stems from a lot of places. One of his first avenues into the world of business was his desire to be the most successful person from his family, wanting to have his name known across the world, as he told Success magazine. 

Another part of him wanted to prove an LSU professor of his wrong for when he told him that ‘big guys don’t sell’. Kudos to Shaq who actually took the advice in stride and realized that while big-men aren’t all too profitable, guys who were humorous were. So, O’Neal decided to be the big, funny, and lovable guy and it worked like a charm.

Also read: “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said ‘Is Shaquille O’Neal that great? Lakers getting swept!’”: When The Big Diesel implied Donovan Mitchell should stop complaining and prove something

Shaquille O’Neal on his car wash investment. 

During an interview with Graham Bensinger, Shaquille O’Neal was asked by him about how he had once misplaced/ lost quarter of a million dollars during one of his first investments: a coin-based car wash. In response, Shaq said: 

“I was being an irresponsible business owner. I had other money coming in, I was just having too much fun. I would get the coins and the quarters and just take them home and put them in my safe. So much money was coming in and I didn’t think you could take quarters and dimes to the bank like that. I didn’t want them to think I was breaking into vending machines.” 

Essentially, Shaquille O’Neal hilariously did not keep a track of nearly $250,000 worth of money he made through his car wash business. Needless to say that this most definitely was a learning experience for the eventual 4x champ. 

Fast-forward to present day and Shaq owns 10% of all Five Guys, a multitude of Las Vegas nightclubs, 40 240hour fitness centers, and has endorsements with the likes of VitaminWater, Pepsi, IcyHot, Taco Bell, etc. And he’s a part-time DJ. These of course, are merely a few of his avenues into adding to his net worth along with being an ‘Inside the NBA’ analyst. 

Also read: “Does Ben Simmons have anxiety wearing 300K Gucci, big chains, and rings?”: Shaquille O’Neal questions former Sixers guard’s mental health