A post last week here on the blog talked about Shaq’s discussions with his children about money, and how they had to make sure they had a good education, and not come to him for money. Now O’Neals oldest son is responding to dad’s message, and it seems he’s got no problem with it.
In case you missed it, Shaq said in an interview recently that he would not be financing their lifestyles, and that they needed to get a college degree – if not two or three of them – to impress him. Shaq said, “My kids are older now…. They’re kind of upset with me. They’re not really upset but they don’t understand. I tell them all the time, ‘We ain’t rich. I’m rich.’”
Quite the powerful message, right? Basically saying, “yeah, I’ve got a lot of money… that doesn’t mean you’re going to be getting any of it.” (Our translation here at the ShaqFu Radio blog, not his exact words… but close!)
Current estimates put O’Neal’s net worth on the north side of $400 million. Of course he’s a big part of the team at TNT’s “Inside the NBA” program, but that’s not where the bulk of his income comes from…not by a long shot. Shaq has multiple business interests, along with investments in the stock market and a lot more.
Taking note of the comments on his social media platforms, at least one of O’Neal’s sons – Shareef – said he was cool with it all.
Seems like Shareef is happy just to play some hoops with his father. The younger O’Neal is currently playing at LSU, where his father was a legend himself. Shareef transferred in to the Tigers program last year and played 10 in games.
Shaq said it and we believe it – education is important!