By: Valentina Guo
Everyone knows Shaq as a basketball star, but he’s achieved even more in his retirement. good.
Shaq has taken being a retired athlete as more of an opportunity rather than a vacation that lasts forever. Nice! Mostly because of his huge height and open personality, Shaq has been on TV shows including chatting with Charles Barkley on TNT, and has been involved in various business ventures–doing things like serving as the reason Papa John’s pizza and has been lifted from dark times in newspapers, as said from Los Angeles Times.
During an interview on CNBC in 2013, Shaq said that he’s “always been a businessman who is athletic.”
There’ve always been athletes that have turned into business people with big personalities, but there has never been someone like Shaquille O’Neal, multi-millionaire and face of the internet.
Shaquille O’Neal’s huge amount of products, basketball commentary on TNT, extensive business portfolio, and his fast-food chain Big Chicken have just made this NBA legend’s audience even more enormous.
Natasha Brison, an associate professor at Texas A&M who specializes in athlete branding has said that “I think his brand is stronger now than it has ever been,” and that “He’s literally reshaped what it means to be a retired athlete.”
Shaquille O’Neal is all over on television and in the business world. This is mainly because of his exceptional hobbies.
Soon, his Big Chicken chain will be in 18 different locations across the country as well as on two Carnival Cruise ships and offers its own franchise opportunities. Over the years, he’s owned 40 24-Hour Fitness gyms, 155 Five Guys restaurants, at least one Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, 17 Auntie Anne’s pretzel stands and nine Papa John’s pizza places.
The ads Shaq’s been in include Icy Hot, General insurance, Buick, Frosted Flakes, Novex Biotech, Reebok, Google, Pepsi, Ring, Gold Bond, JCPenney, PointsBet sports betting and Tonka.
The many live event companies he’s worked with include Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group and Medium Rare to produce Shaqtoberfest Halloween carnival at the Queen Mary in Long Beach and the Shaq’s Fun House Super Bowl festival.
He’s also worked with a lot of people to put his own products that are Shaq-branded, like Soda Shaq, a huge can decorate with his smiling face. He’s worked with Zales, Macy’s and AriZona Beverages to put these products on their shelves.
Shaquille O’Neal is also a board member at Papa John’s, a founding partner of Majority, a company that focuses on diversity in advertising, and a shareholder in Genius Brands International, a children’s media company with which he’ll have an animated show titled “Shaq’s Garage.” In a special purpose acquisition company called Forest Road Acquisition Corp. that looks for companies to merge with and then take public, Shaq is a strategic advisor, as written by The New York Times.
A deal that forced him to sell his minority stake in the Sacramento Kings last year to conform with conflict-of-interest rules, he’s a brand ambassador and strategic consultant for mobile sports betting app WynnBet.
(Though it reportedly isn’t a moneymaker, he’s also a DJ.)
He has also invested in many other things, including Google and Apple.
He’s been linked to strange products and has done random acts of charity. His likable personality has made him popular in companies, brands, and audiences.
Ken Gunsberger, a managing director and private wealth advisor at UBS who works with athletes, artists and other high-net-worth individuals, said that “If you’re a really great personality, and the brands are fun, and you can make a lot of money in endorsements, then you can rely less on your investment portfolio because you will be able to work for as long as the eye can see,”
“Everybody loves Shaquille,” he said. “And I think that’s one of the things that makes him so special in his business life.”