"You need 15 people"- Shaquille O'Neal once paid for his friends to get their master's degrees after the university didn't allow him to do it alone

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is best known for his larger-than-life personality. However, the big man is also known to be a shrewd businessman and philanthropist.

In an interview with the “Be Better Off Show” last year, O’Neal recalled a time when he combined his charitable endeavors with his pursuit of higher education. This came when O’Neal was pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix.

According to O’Neal, the university program was mostly available online. O’Neal requested to take his classes in person instead. However, to do so, O’Neal needed to find 15 people who were interested in taking the in-person class. So rather than seek out strangers interested in taking the class, O’Neal opted to pay for 15 of his friends to get their master’s degrees as well.

“University of Phoenix is an online program mostly,” O’Neal said. “But I went to the head officials and said, ‘I don’t want to do it online. I want somebody to teach me in a class.’ And they came back and said, ‘Unfortunately, we can’t set up a classroom for one guy. You need 15 people.’ So, I paid for 15 of my friends to get their master's.”

Also read: "I wish that was me"- Shaquille O'Neal says he was very jealous of LeBron James when he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer

Why did Shaquille O’Neal decide to get his master’s degree?

NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal

Some might wonder why a world-famous, rich athlete like Shaquille O’Neal would even bother to go back to school. O’Neal probably could have continued to invest and grow his massive business portfolio without doing so. However, according to O’Neal, he got his master's degree to earn the respect of those he was doing business deals with:

"I noticed that every time I go to a business meeting, the guys we're doing deals with will be like, 'Hello Shaq, how are you doing?’" O'Neal said.

"And then they would turn away and look at my lawyers, accountants nand all those guys. So, I said, 'Oh, you guys don't think I'm in charge? You guys don't think I understand the lingo?’ So, I went and got my master’s (degree) from the University of Phoenix.”

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O’Neal’s decision appears to have paid off as the big man now has an estimated net worth of $450 million. This total stems from a combination of his NBA career earnings, business ventures, endorsements and his role as an NBA analyst for TNT’s "Inside the NBA."

Also read: Shaquille O'Neal's net worth: Taking a look at the salary, endorsements and deals made by the 4x champion