What makes Shaquille O’Neal a trailblazing investor? As popular entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk once said, Shaq soaks in knowledge from all kinds of sources and implements them in his own life. The big man realized during his playing days that basketball isn’t the only route to making millions. Therefore, he decided to expand his horizons. Shaq recently appeared on the Black fatherhood-focused Dear Fathers podcast and explained how he learned that some dentists and real estate agents are more affluent than superstar hoopers.
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When he started to make millions as an NBA superstar, Shaq would buy sprawling mansions. He wanted to show everyone that he had the biggest house in the locality. O’Neal revealed how his first house in Atlanta was 4,000 sq ft. Running into even more money, he kept expanding the size of his houses.
“My first house is 4,000[sq ft] but this next one gonna be 25[000 sq ft], you know why 25? Because in that development, I want the motherf***** to say Shaq, has the biggest house,” Shaq told the host.
However, he soon found out that he had competition in the game because somebody always managed to beat him by building a bigger house. When he bought a 67,000 sq ft. mansion in Florida, he noticed that his neighbors had even bigger homes. One of them, whose last name was Seagull, made a huge impression on the big fella. The owner of the timeshare owned a 100,000 Square feet home with an ice skating ring.
When O’Neal inquired about these people’s professions, he learned that they were dentists and real estate agents. This made him realize that basketball isn’t the only pathway to becoming a multi-millionaire. Therefore, the four-time NBA Champion decided to diversify his earnings.
“Sports is cool but a lot of people making way more money than me that ain’t ever touch a basketball. I would meet with them and just talk to them. I was like, ‘You know what with all the babies we gonna have to know branch out,'” realized Shaquille O’Neal
The Lakers legend has surely followed up on his decision. His ability to invest in freshly emerging technologies has helped create a new class of venture capitalists. This is indicative of his stakes in Google, Lyft, Apple, and Ring. His investment in Google came way back in the late 1990s when Google was starting fresh. Apart from that, he also owns around 150 car washes and 40 Fitness Centers.
Shaq has also started a franchise, the food chain, Big Chicken, which is expanding at a rapid rate around the country. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Shaq’s business investments and ownership.
How has Shaquille O’Neal built such an empire?
One of the major pillars of O’Neal’s business success has been hunting equity opportunities instead of quick cash. In an interview with Enterpreneurs.com’s Business Development Expert Terry Rice, the big fella expanded upon the lessons he has learned. Shaq believes that instead of going for “get rich quick” schemes, one should invest in a service that “changes people’s lives”.
He also promoted ‘delegation’ than ‘micromanagement’. Meaning, that instead of going into every detail, the knowledge about a site should be generated by a weekly roundup. Considering he has hundreds of investments, this approach is the most feasible. The keen investor also touched upon how it is important to hire people who are “smarter than you” to ensure there is value addition.
