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Shaquille O'Neal is the fifth richest basketball player alive right now, right behind Junior Bridgeman, Magic Johnson, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. But even with the wealth O'Neal has accumulated, the seven-foot-one center has his regrets about missing out on good business deals.
One such regret was declining a chance to invest in Starbucks when it was on the verge of a massive expansion.
Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks during that time and the part owner of the Seattle SuperSonics from 2001 to 2006, called Shaquille O'Neal to give him the first dibs on helping expand the Starbucks franchise to African-American communities.
In a 2015 chat with sports reporter Graham Bensinger, Shaq said he initially tried to hear out the business proposal but was led to believe that Black people are not much into drinking coffee.
"So my agent called me up, and he says, 'Howard Schultz wants to do business with you,' and I'm like, 'Coffee, eh?' Because growing up in my household, I'd never seen a Black person drink coffee. So it is my thought process that Black people didn't drink coffee," says Shaq. "In my house, it was always sweet tea, hot chocolate."
The 15-time NBA All-Star also revealed that he is the type of businessman who must be passionate about what he puts his money into. The assumption of putting Starbucks in African-American-dominated areas was not what he initially thought would work.
"I'm always a guy that if I don't believe in it, can't do it. We'll never do it. No amount of money can make me endure something that I'm not 100% behind. So I look at the great Howard Schultz's face and said, 'Black people don't drink coffee, sir. I don't think it's going to work,'" said O'Neal.
With that belief, the four-time NBA champion rejected the business proposal, which he would heavily regret in the future:
"Now, we’re still good friends today, but that was one of my worst business decisions because now, every time, on every corner in every city, every country, you see a Starbucks. … I’m like, ‘aw.’"
The loss of Shaquille O'Neal is Magic Johnson's gain
While Shaquille O'Neal declined to be a part-owner of Starbucks, Howard Schultz went to Magic Johnson to offer the same business proposal and the 80s Lakers legend agreed to do it.
Magic Johnson Enterprises came in with the investment that helped add 125 Starbucks stores.
"Through our partnership with Starbucks, we were able to serve as an economic catalyst in urban cities through the creation of new jobs, use of local suppliers, support for community-based organizations, and by attracting other retailers to the area," Johnson said in a story published at the Starbucks' website.
The deal earned Johnson $100 million, and his net worth in 2023 is now $620 million. The five-time NBA champion's net worth is bigger than Shaquille O'Neal's by $220 million.
