Michael Jordan is undoubtedly one of the most successful players in basketball history. One of the main reasons for his success is his incredible business acumen. MJ was one of the first players to properly monetize his image earning him millions. Citing Julius Erving as one of his major influences, many followed Jordan’s example. In fact, as Leonard Armato revealed in an article for Forbes, Shaquille O’Neal utilized the knowledge he got from Jordan to build his $400,000,000 empire.
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As a player, Jordan cultivated the perfect image of himself. The image of an “All-American” that everyone wanted to be associated with. It was this carefully created public persona that led to him receiving several lucrative endorsement deals. Companies like Nike, Gatorade, McDonald’s, and Chevrolet congregated in front of MJ. And now, he earns close to $130 million from endorsements each year.
Taking inspiration from Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal perfectly utilized his IP to build his $400 million empire
Over the years, NBA superstars have made millions of dollars by using their own Intellectual Property. However, the concept of IP would have never found footing if it weren’t for Michael Jordan. The six-time NBA Champion’s success with the Jordan Brand inspired several future stars, including Shaquille O’Neal.
Much like His Airness, The Big Aristotle has one of the biggest brands in sports. The Shaq brand is known the world over, and it has helped O’Neal build his $400 million brand. However, he would have never been able to do it by himself. So, he reached out to Management Plus Enterprises. The company, led by Leonard Armato took inspiration from the success of Michael Jordan.
First, they created the Shaq brand at the start of his NBA career, going one step further than what Jordan had perfected. The second was owning the Shaq IP. This allowed the four-time NBA Champion to become a game-changer in the industry, as he licensed out his IP to companies, earning millions from the profits being made off of his image.
“When our company, Management Plus Enterprises (MPE), worked with Shaquille to created the Shaq brand at the beginning of his career, we went one step beyond what Jordan had perfected. From the beginning our strategy was to own the Shaq IP and license to brands for use in their marketing campaigns along with Shaq as the spokesperson.”
Moreover, his IP got a boost, thanks to the help of Lee Clow, who helped establish the brand by creating the Dunkman logo. But, things do not end there. The success of the Shaq brand saw the Hall of Famer form a lucrative partnership with Authentic Brands Group which skyrocketed his brand growth on a global level.
Shaq had a full-circle moment as his partnership with ABG saw him go from working for Reebok to partly owning it
In 1992, Shaquille O’Neal signed a deal with Reebok. Big Diesel spent seven years with the company before parting ways in 1999, walking away from a $40 million. However, while it was a shock, things have come full circle for Shaq as he now technically owns a percentage of the sporting goods company.
Thanks to his partnership with Authentic Brands Group, O’Neal now has a stake in Reebok. After all, ABG bought the company in 2021 from Adidas for a whopping $2.4 billion.
It just goes to show how incredibly powerful the Shaq brand is. And, it is thanks to his savvy business decisions that he has managed to find so much success off the court.
