How Shaq became a business sensation, with help from Jeff Bezos

It’s been 14 years since Shaquille O’Neal retired from the NBA but his net worth just keeps going up.

The iconic four-time NBA champion is one of the most recognisable figures in the sport and has managed to move seamlessly from the court to a successful post-playing career. In recent years he has been involved in a number of very lucrative investment projects.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Shaq revealed that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos gave him a crucial piece of advice that has proved very effective.

Shaq explained: “I heard Jeff Bezos say one time, he makes his investments based on if it’s going to change people’s lives. Once I started doing that strategy, I think I probably quadrupled what I’m worth.”

“Whenever I do business, it’s not about the money,” he added. Yahoo! Finance reports that Shaq has built a diverse investment portfolio with stakes in Google and Apple, alongside car washes and Las Vegas nightclubs. It’s all combined to earn him a huge personal wealth.

What is Shaq’s net worth?

During a 19-year professional career in the NBA, Shaq built a healthy personal fortune and it’s only grown since then.

Celebrity Net Worth puts Shaq’s net worth at $500 million, describing him as a “marketing powerhouse” who has endorsed “a wide range of products and brands”.

Shaq is thought to have earned around $292 million in salary from his playing career and continues to bank around $60 million per year from his various business endeavours.

Perhaps the most successful of his many deals was the investment in Ring, the home security company known for smart doorbells and security cameras. Shaq invested in the company in 2016 and helped to raise $200 million in investments, before the company was bought by Amazon in 2018 for around $839 million.

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