How Shaquille O'Neal's $1,000,000 investment in Ring produced whopping $1 billion valuation: A closer look

Shaquille O'Neal is a successful entrepreneur and an active venture capitalist who has invested in numerous businesses. At one point, he invested $1 million in Ring security cameras while the company was still establishing its roots. Since then, Ring's valuation has reached up to $1 billion.

In 2013, Ring - a wireless doorbell company - then known as Doorbot, was facing some challenges. Its CEO, Jamie Siminoff, decided to pitch the company on the TV show "Shark Tank" to secure additional funding. However, despite his efforts, Mark Cuban and the other sharks offered him an unsatisfactory deal.

As a result, the Ring CEO left the show without any investment. Despite this setback, the episode was aired and the company experienced a significant increase in sales, thanks to the exposure on the show.

The company got another bump when the NBA legend stumbled upon the company. In 2015 O’Neal was at the giant tech event CES (Consumer Electronic Show). He already had his own Ring camera and wanted to get involved with the company.

A few weeks later, O’Neal struck a deal with Siminoff and invested $1 million into Ring to acquire an equity stake. He also agreed to do TV and public appearances on behalf of the company. Since then, Big Diesel has continued to be a spokesperson for the company. Diminoff also donated $1 million in Ring cameras and O’Neal helped install them in homes around the state of Georgia. O’Neal’s investment sparked a $200 million round of funding.

O’Neal was not the only famous investor. In 2015, billionaire Richard Branson invested $28 million in the company. He jumped in after seeing a friend use the Ring camera to protect his home from thousands of miles away. The investment sent Ring to a $60 million valuation at the time.

Their investments paid off as in 2018, tech giant Amazon purchased Ring for a $1.2-1.8 billion valuation.

Shaquille O’Neal business ventures

Shaquille O’Neal has many business ventures and investments. The NBA legend made $292 million in NBA contract earnings. However, he has turned his fortune into more than $400 million, highlighting his business acumen.

He got a big return after the Ring was purchased by Amazon.

Apart from this, Shaq is a shareholder in Authentic Brands Group. He has also started purchasing car washes and fast food restaurants. He owned multiple branches of Five Guys and Papa John’s restaurants. According to MadeMoney, O’Neal has more than $144 million invested in franchises.

Shaq also is a huge startup investor and venture capitalist. He has more than $100 million invested in start-ups. He has plenty of properties in his $84 million in real estate. O’Neal also has traditional stock market investments worth more than $72 million.