Shaquille O'Neal dubs himself 'master of joint ventures' boasting his entrepreneurial acumen: "Never really started a business from scratch"

Once known for his dominance on the court, Shaquille O’Neal has graduated from the realms of basketball and become something of a financial mastermind. O’Neal earned close to $300 million during his NBA career, which also saw him earn 4 NBA titles and 3 Finals MVP awards.

However, since retiring, Shaq has made a number of smart investments in a range of industries. He has managed a successful career out of basketball analytics and is currently earning a whopping $60 million per year with TNT. That is in addition to his DJing career, with the rest of his earnings coming from the investments he has made.

O’Neal, during a recent episode of his "Big Podcast," was asked about the first business he started after retiring from the NBA. Shaq, however, claimed that while he has invested in a range of joint ventures, he does not himself start businesses. Instead, Shaquille O’Neal called himself the "master of joint ventures”:

“I don’t really, I mean, Shaq don’t really start businesses, Shaq is the master of joint ventures.

"I always give this example. I wanna do a podcast. Do I go get some cameras, call some people, nope. Who’s the hottest producer? Shane, what’s up? What’s the network I can go in? Playmakers? Joint venture, Boom bam bam.

"Because, it’s all about delegation with me. My brain is not focused enough, it can be, but it’s not focused enough for me to handle all the intricacies by myself.”

Hence, while O’Neal has certainly made a series of brilliant investments, they have all been in the form of joint ventures.

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the richest NBA celebrities around

Shaquille O’Neal has managed to include himself in an elite list. After obvious suspects such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson, O’Neal is currently the richest basketball celebrity around. His overall net worth of $500 million is a result of his business acumen and investments in a range of successful companies.

This includes Lyft, JC Penney, Icy Hot, The General Insurance, Krispy Kreme, Reebok, Forever 21, and even Barneys. As a result, Shaq has become the most obvious and the biggest philanthropist to have come from the NBA.

The recent interview also saw Shaquille O’Neal talk about his first-ever joint business venture, which was a shoe company. O’Neal claimed that he took help from Reebok to get it going:

"The first business I had was a shoe company, Shaq brand. But I know nothing about shoes, so what do I do? I do a JV with Reebok. You know everything about shoes and all the things I need to know.

"My emblem goes here, this is my price points, this is how I want them. How much am I getting? What is my royalty fees? You know, like that. I never really started a business from scratch, I only did joint ventures because it’s easier."

Hence, sometimes, simply the contacts that a person might have ended up proving enough for them to establish successful businesses.