All of us have an “if only” story in our lives. Usually, it’s just a cause for regret. If only we’d done something or listened or not listened to someone, things could have turned out differently. Shannon Sharpe has one to tell, too. Only, in his case, the “if only” ended up costing him a bucketload of money!
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Sharpe is reportedly worth around $14 million right now. Not too shabby, but it could have been way better — like a couple of zeroes better — but for one fateful decision.
Sharpe, arguably one of the top five tight ends in NFL history, is one of the busiest former players in the sports media landscape right now, with a packed schedule of TV and podcast appearances. But he would probably not have had to work at all after his playing days — if only he hadn’t listened to a skittish financial advisor!
That’s right. Sharpe would have been a billionaire by now if he’d stuck to his original investment instincts and not sought ‘expert’ advice! Sharpe recently reminisced about his regrets with actual billionaire Mark Cuban, when the latter came on as a guest on Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast.
Back in 2000, after signing a deal with the Baltimore Ravens, Sharpe had some money to blow. He wanted to invest in a tech startup called Google, but his financial advisor was skeptical about it, and Sharpe backed down. If only he’d stood his ground!
“I remember when Google came out and they thought the shares were going to open up at about $85 a share. And I remember saying to my financial guys, ‘you know what, I’ve just signed with the Ravens, I have some money, man I’d like to buy $300,000 worth [of Google shares]. Well, it opens up at $115 [a share], and my guy says, ‘it’s overpriced!’ That motherf*****!”, said Sharpe.
But far from getting depressed by that gargantuan mistake, Sharpe just laughs at how strange and random life can be. Cuban also reassured Sharpe that he was far from the only one to miss the Google boat in those early years of the 21st century. However, he did also feel the need to remind Sharpe of what Google is worth now.
“Cuban: [Google]’s worth $3 trillion now! $3 trillion!
Sharpe: (shakes head) I’d have been a billionaire with you!
Cuban: You f***** up! (Laughs)
Sharpe: (Laughs) I f***** up bad! I had the money to do it but I let somebody talk me out of it!”
Google isn’t the only investment regret Sharpe has either. He also recently talked about how he “could’ve bought a Bitcoin for $2,500” back in the early days of the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Sharpe also talked about how he nearly bought some of the crypto coins later in 2015, when it was trading at about $85k. If he’d invested $800k then, he says, that crypto would be worth $27 million today.
“I’m looking back now, I could have taken $800,000 and brought me some bitcoin. If I bought $800,000 worth of Bitcoin in 2015, Ocho, I ain’t even gonna lie to you, I wouldn’t be working. There would have been no Unc & Ocho,” Sharpe said.
Despite those investment blunders, Sharpe has had no trouble building an empire. He’s one of the foremost sports analysts on ESPN’s flagship show First Take, and he’s the owner of two massive podcasts: Club Shay Shay and Nightcap, the latter of which he hosts with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
Being a silent and wealthy investor in Google or Bitcoin would have been nice, but we have a feeling Uncle Shay prefers his current position smack dab in the sports spotlight.
