Shaquille O’Neal dominated the NBA with his amazing ability to play basketball. The NBA legend won four titles in his career and is now regarded as one of the best players to ever play the game.
During his playing days, Shaq was a true superstar, which means he also made a lot of money in his career. Shaq might have earned around $300 million from his NBA earnings but turned into much more with his great investments.
The Diesel has gathered generational wealth for his family, and it will only increase. In fact, O’Neal once revealed in what businesses he has invested in ballooning his net worth.
So it might seem that Shaq is a picky spender? Well, that might be true for him right now. But when he first got access to so much money, he wasn’t that smart with his money.
Shaquille O’Neal Is A Big Spender
There are many crazy stories about O’Neal spending huge amounts of money. He once revealed that he spent $9 million dollars in a single day when he first came to Los Angeles.
On a smaller note, he also spent $1 million in 30 minutes. No, we are not joking, Shaq has narrated that story several times. He did so majorly by purchasing cars for himself and his family.
“I spent a million dollars in 30 minutes. I get a check for a million dollars from my trading car company. In my mind, I thought I had the million, I forgot about the agent fees, I forgot about FICA, I forgot about state tax and sales tax. So I probably netted like $700,000. But I didn’t know that, I thought I had $1 million. So I always wanted a black-on-black Mercedes-Benz. I go get it, boom! $150,000. … In my mind, $150K minus a million, I still got $850K left. I’m still good. So I get home, my father says, ‘That’s nice, where’s mine at?’
I was like, ‘You know what? You’re right. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here right now.’ Me and him, we get in the car and go get the exact same car for him. We get home, my mom’s a little jealous, ‘Where’s mine at?’… So we go and we get her the smaller Benz version. So we got three Benzes and then after that I drop them off, I was like I need some jewelry. So I buy a big old diamond ring. I get another ring for the other hand, I get a bracelet, I get some diamond earrings, I get a necklace, and I said, ‘Oh, the draft is coming up, let me get some suits.’
I got some suits. Oh, I’m moving to L.A., so let me get some fancy clothes and let me get a high rise in downtown San Antonio, that pays $9,000 a month. I get a call the next day from the bank manager and he says, ‘I need to have a conversation with you.’
Thankfully, Shaq learned from his mistake and decided to let go of his immature habit of spending a lot of money.
If he hadn’t learned his lesson at an early age, he could have gone the same path that hundreds of other athletes have gone on. Which is being broke after their playing career is over.
