Shaq is a former NBA player and businessman who is like an omnipresent god to many. He is everywhere.
Throughout history, many extraordinary athletes have turned into businessmen, but Shaq’s success is unlike any other.
Legendary Shaquille O’Neal is known for his basketball commentary on TNT and his own fast food chain, Big Chicken, which will soon have 18 locations across the U.S., followed by two located on Carnival Cruise ships that will offer franchise opportunities. Natasha Brison, an associate professor at Texas A&M who studies athletic branding, states, “I think his brand is stronger now than it has ever been. He’s literally reshaped what it means to be a retired athlete.”
Throughout his career, he has owned 40 fitness gyms, 155 Five Guys restaurants, a few Krispy Kreme doughnut shops, 17 Auntie Anne’s pretzel stands, and nine Papa John’s pizza restaurants.
He has also appeared in many commercials. Some examples include General Insurance, Icy Hot, Novex Biotech, Buick, Frosted Flakes, Reebok, Google, Ring, Pepsi, Gold Bond, PointsBet sports betting, JC Penny, and Tonka.
To make Shaqtoberfest Halloween Carnival and Shaq’s Fun House Super Bowl Festival possible, he partnered with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment and Medium Rare, both live events companies. To produce his line of branded products, such as Soda Shaq, he worked with a wide array of companies, including Zales, Macy’s, and AriZona Beverages.
Shaq is the second-largest stakeholder in Authentic Brands Group, a management firm that owns Reebok and will soon acquire Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, and other companies that fall under the brand Boardriders. He manages to play such a significant role in this group of brands, all while remaining an independent stakeholder.
Aside from the big brands he owns and operates, O’Neal is also a nonprofit DJ.
Shaq said at the International Franchise Assn. in San Diego that he learned from Magic Johnson, a former American basketball player in the NBA, that “It’s OK to be a superstar basketball player, but at some point, you want to start investing in businesses.” He ended up investing in Google during the ’90s, and claims that “My only regret is that I wish I would have bought more.”
Aside from Google, O’Neal was also an early investor in Apple and invested in Ring, a company known for its doorbells, before it was purchased by Amazon.
But his journey was not always a smooth ride. He has been linked to many questionable products and was recently charged with a class-action lawsuit, as former customers of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX insisted that he and other celebrities were obtaining money illegally by appearing in its advertisements. Shaq responded to the backlash by saying, “People know I am very, very honest. I have nothing to hide. If I was heavily involved, I would be at the forefront saying, ‘Hey.’” He claims that he was “just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”
However, he was also linked to the endorsement of Power Balance bracelets, which supposedly helped enhance athletic performance. This bracelet was later discovered to be a scam.
But in the end, people believe that he is a trustworthy and authentic man with a humorous personality, which is why so many companies are falling head over heels to cooperate with him. Perry Rogers, his agent, says that “At the end of the day, we’re in the fun business. That’s who Shaquille is.”
O’Neal has a history of performing random acts of charity as well, a few widespread cases being when he paid the dinner bill for all the people dining in a New York restaurant, and when he donated 50,000 dollars to support a victim of a mass shooting and their family.
“Everybody loves Shaquille,” says Brandon Brown, who serves as a president of the Sports Marketing Assn., “And I think that’s one of the things that makes him so special in his business life.”
Throughout history, many extraordinary athletes have turned into businessmen, but Shaq’s success is unlike any other.
Legendary Shaquille O’Neal is known for his basketball commentary on TNT and his own fast food chain, Big Chicken, which will soon have 18 locations across the U.S., followed by two located on Carnival Cruise ships that will offer franchise opportunities. Natasha Brison, an associate professor at Texas A&M who studies athletic branding, states, “I think his brand is stronger now than it has ever been. He’s literally reshaped what it means to be a retired athlete.”
Throughout his career, he has owned 40 fitness gyms, 155 Five Guys restaurants, a few Krispy Kreme doughnut shops, 17 Auntie Anne’s pretzel stands, and nine Papa John’s pizza restaurants.
He has also appeared in many commercials. Some examples include General Insurance, Icy Hot, Novex Biotech, Buick, Frosted Flakes, Reebok, Google, Ring, Pepsi, Gold Bond, PointsBet sports betting, JC Penny, and Tonka.
To make Shaqtoberfest Halloween Carnival and Shaq’s Fun House Super Bowl Festival possible, he partnered with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment and Medium Rare, both live events companies. To produce his line of branded products, such as Soda Shaq, he worked with a wide array of companies, including Zales, Macy’s, and AriZona Beverages.
Shaq is the second-largest stakeholder in Authentic Brands Group, a management firm that owns Reebok and will soon acquire Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, and other companies that fall under the brand Boardriders. He manages to play such a significant role in this group of brands, all while remaining an independent stakeholder.
Aside from the big brands he owns and operates, O’Neal is also a nonprofit DJ.
Shaq said at the International Franchise Assn. in San Diego that he learned from Magic Johnson, a former American basketball player in the NBA, that “It’s OK to be a superstar basketball player, but at some point, you want to start investing in businesses.” He ended up investing in Google during the ’90s, and claims that “My only regret is that I wish I would have bought more.”
Aside from Google, O’Neal was also an early investor in Apple and invested in Ring, a company known for its doorbells, before it was purchased by Amazon.
But his journey was not always a smooth ride. He has been linked to many questionable products and was recently charged with a class-action lawsuit, as former customers of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX insisted that he and other celebrities were obtaining money illegally by appearing in its advertisements. Shaq responded to the backlash by saying, “People know I am very, very honest. I have nothing to hide. If I was heavily involved, I would be at the forefront saying, ‘Hey.’” He claims that he was “just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.”
However, he was also linked to the endorsement of Power Balance bracelets, which supposedly helped enhance athletic performance. This bracelet was later discovered to be a scam.
But in the end, people believe that he is a trustworthy and authentic man with a humorous personality, which is why so many companies are falling head over heels to cooperate with him. Perry Rogers, his agent, says that “At the end of the day, we’re in the fun business. That’s who Shaquille is.”
O’Neal has a history of performing random acts of charity as well, a few widespread cases being when he paid the dinner bill for all the people dining in a New York restaurant, and when he donated 50,000 dollars to support a victim of a mass shooting and their family.
“Everybody loves Shaquille,” says Brandon Brown, who serves as a president of the Sports Marketing Assn., “And I think that’s one of the things that makes him so special in his business life.”
