Shaq Industries: Inside The Brilliant Business Mind Of Shaquille O'Neal

Some people know how to make money, and one of them is Shaquille O'Neal. A four-time NBA champion who ended his 19-year basketball career in 2011 hit the jackpot and became a hugely successful businessman. Today, Shaq is one of the wealthiest athletes in the world; his net worth is $400 mln. Are you impressed? It's no time yet. Here's what you need to know about his mind-blowing success in the business sphere.

Let's start with the entities he has bought and now owns. Here are the numbers: 17 Auntie Anne's Pretzels restaurants, 155 Five Guys Burgers and Fries franchises, 150 car washes, Las Vegas nightclubs, 40 24-hour fitness gyms, the Met Miami, a movie theater, a brokerage startup Loyal3, and many more!

Shaq cooperates with so many brands, it's barely possible to count their number. For example, in 2019, he joined Papa John's board of directors (surprise-surprise, he bought nine locations in the Atlantic area). There's even a Shaq-A-Claus, an initiative from Toys'R'us. One more fun collab, the basketball star teamed up with Carnival Cruise Line and got a unique, new title: CFO or Chief Fun Officer. Moving on, did you try Soda Shaq? It's a low-calorie soda of AriZona beverages. Or maybe you played the computer game Shaq Fu? It's pretty old, though, released in 1994. Anyways, this list can be endless!

There's one curious thing about cooperations. Do you know Shaq is picky about whom to work with? For instance, he refused to collaborate with Starbucks because "black people don't drink coffee." "If I don't like something, people will notice it anyway," writes Basketballnoise.com. Well, it's better to be honest with customers, right?

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O'Neal started dealing with business long before he was into it. For example, in 1992, he made a $15 mln deal with Reebok. Or in 2004, Shaq was among the first who invested in Google. But, recalling those times, the star confessed regretting he didn't buy more shares. Another curious thing is that Shaq is Twitter's first verified user. He found out about it accidentally during an interview. "I was talking to a reporter and he said something nasty about me and he said he read a quote. I said "Yo, don't you ever misquote me." He said "you said it on Twitter." I said "what the hell is Twitter?" he told Fast Company. Well, he worked hard to get what he has these days.

You can have an impression that Shaq's very lucky. Well, he made an effort to achieve what he has. He started with small steps by buying a copy of The Dummies Guide To Building A Business which eventually led to his first successful deal with Reebok (the one from 1992). Later on, he got his MA in Business at the University of Phoenix, and that's when his franchise empire started developing. In 2018, the basketball star founded Big Chicken, a chicken sandwich brand with ten locations in LA, and since 2021 it's expanded in Austin and Phoenix. Today, he holds The Shaq Summit, an annual meeting of representatives of the companies that are part of O'Neal's holding. Oh, yes, and he's DJing as well. "I just try my best to lead by example in everything I do," he said in the live Q + A session during The Playbook 2021 conducted by Trainual.com.

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Okay, since now it's clear what 'The Big Aristotle,' as he proclaimed himself, has, here are some ideas that help him be among the best. As Trainual.com writes, he's a life-long learner, which means he's constantly learning something new. For example, for now, he's into NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Another step is to use the opportunities life gives to you. "If I were losing games [at the time], I wouldn't have taken advantage of these opportunities. I would have focused on my game," he said on the Playbook 2021. Additionally, it's essential to be a team player. You know he's doing his business with the help of others, right? "[Perhaps] my greatest attribute is that I always hire people smarter than me. I love not being the smartest person in the room," he shared. Finally, the idea of believing in yourself and your actions requires no words, "Not many people know this. But the game [of basketball] is 85% mental and 15% skill."

Apart from making money and entertaining people, the basketball star spends enough time and money on charity. He contributes to several ones, like Be The Match, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Kids Wish Network. There's also a Shaquille O'Neal Foundation that supports 'underserved youth to achieve their full potential.' Yep, Shaq seems to be a busy guy.

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Sources: Trainual.com, Franchise500.com, Basketballnoise.com, Eu.usatoday.com, Thehustle.co, Fastcompany.com

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