Shannon Sharpe wishes he had invested in Bitcoin earlier. Back in 2015, when he “could’ve bought a coin for $2500.” To be fair, most people wish they had bought into the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Since Bitcoin was introduced to the market, its value has increased manifold, to the point that it has turned early investors into multi-millionaires.
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That’s what bites Sharpe, who revealed he wouldn’t still be working if he had invested in Bitcoin and made his investment multiply by at least 10 times by now. Bitcoin is now trading between $85,000 and $100,000 per coin. He would be living a life of leisure instead.
Then again, with a net worth of around $14 million over his career in the league and later establishing a successful broadcasting stint, Sharpe can chill at will. So what prompted Unc to rant? Well, it was Tom Brady.
Brady wore an $800,000 watch to the Super Bowl, which prompted Sharpe and Nightcap cohost Chad Johnson to talk about what they would do with that kind of money at their disposal. Enter the regret over Bitcoin.
“I’m looking back now, I could have taken $800,000 and brought me some bitcoin,” Sharpe said. “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.”
That missed $800K investment in 2015 would have turned into over $27 million at the lowest trading price of $85K. That thought would keep anyone up at night. But that’s not the only investment blunder Sharpe has made.
In October 2024, the former tight end told business giant Mark Cuban on Club Shay Shay that he had the perfect opportunity to make a lucrative investment in Google in 2004. Sharpe was considering it as well, but the price opened a little higher than expected — not at $85 but at $115.
His financial advisor stopped him, saying it wouldn’t be wise to buy overpriced stocks. Fast-forward to today, Google is valued at $2.26 trillion. That’s a trillion—with a ‘T,’ not a billion. Just imagine how rich Sharpe would be right now with that kind of return.
Regardless, Sharpe is doing well in life after football. He has built quite a career in sports analysis. “Unc and Ocho” are now staples of the NFL commentary space.
Shannon started off his broadcasting career with a stint for CBS, eventually making his way to the infamous Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, where his career took off. Now, he is running his own successful media company, with Club Shay Shay and Nightcap garnering millions of viewers across platforms.
“Ocho and I have had many debates off-camera throughout the years,” Sharpe had said in a release when Nightcap was announced. “We’ve decided to bring those on camera with Nightcap. Looking forward to debating my good friend Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson.”
No analyst has seen the kind of independent success Sharpe has earned with his commentary since parting ways with the big networks to venture on his own.
So, if Sharpe had invested in Bitcoin, we would’ve missed out on some serious fun with “Unc and Ocho.”
