When we talk about Shaq as the “Big Man,” that’s normally all about his physical size… how The “Big Diesel” was one of the biggest, most physical and dominant players in the NBA. But it’s not just about his imposing physical size… Shaq is also a big player in various business and financial games as well.
Thanks to our friends at ClutchPoints.com for help with the numbers on this story. You can check out their full post here. Bottom line? According to various financial reports Shaq had a net worth (through the 2019 full reporting year) of about $400 million dollars!
Based on today’s dollars, Shaq is still in the top five NBA players – all time! – when it comes to on-court compensation. O’Neal finished his NBA career with the fourth-highest earnings in NBA history, behind former teammates Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as well as Kevin Garnett.
After his NBA career, Shaq has stayed one of the most marketable and charismatic public figures out there… and he’s quite the entrepreneur himself.
Shaq started his NBA career in Orlando as the top pick of the 1992 draft, but it was his move to the Los Angeles Lakers that really started the cash rolling in. Lakers GM Jerry West did everything possible to bring O’Neal to Hollywood, basically dismantling the team to free up cap space and sign Shaq to a seven-year, $120 million deal in the summer of 1996.
After his time with LA, Shaq moved on to the Miami Heat (summer of 2005), where he would go on to make a cool $100 million during the course of the next five years, finishing up in Cleveland, and a forgettable 2009-10 season with the Cavs.
But it’s not just the NBA that’s made Shaq the money. His first rap album – “Shaq Diesel” – came out in 1993. That album went platinum and another (“Shaq Fu: Da Return”) went gold.
Studio albums were nice, but Shaq seemed to like the live shows better. That led to his career pivot into becoming a live-event DJ. He’s done sets all around the world under his stage name DJ Diesel…including a set at Lollapalooza in Chicago last summer.
That’s all nice, but it’s the business world where Shaq has really stood out (no pun intended for the whole size-thing). O’Neal has made Shaq-sized investments in a number of businesses, especially in the food industry.
According to Money.com, Shaquille O’Neal once owned up to 155 Five Guys restaurants, or 10 percent of the company portfolio. As a regular reader of our dear ShaqFu Radio blog, you surely already know of Shaq’s interest in Papa John’s Pizza, as both a store owner and member of the Board of Directors. He owns nine stores in the Atlanta area and appears in most of the company’s TV and online commercials.
O’Neal has also invested in gyms and car washes, and he was a big investor in the “Ring” doorbell / home security company prior to Amazon’s $1 billion buyout in 2018.
When he’s not taking an ownership position, Shaq is making strong investments in the financial markets, too. He made early investments in Google and Apple, two financial decisions which are still paying dividends two decades later.
How does he pick his winners? O’Neal credits something he heard from Mr. Amazon, Jeff Bezos: “I heard Jeff Bezos say one time [that] he makes his investments based on if it’s going to change people’s lives,” and “once I started doing that strategy, I think I probably quadrupled what I’m worth.”
Some former NBA fans tend to take it easy in their retirement days after court-time is done. Not Shaq… Seems like the only question for the “Diesel” is: what next?