Shaquille O’Neal has found a lot of success in his post-basketball career. While his work with Inside The NBA has garnered him a lot of fame and praise, it is his widely growing investment portfolio and endorsement deals that have proven to be incredibly lucrative. But there was one major investment opportunity Shaq passed on.
And to this day, he regrets having done so. In an interview from 2019, Shaquille O’Neal revealed that he had the opportunity to invest in Starbucks before Magic Johnson did. But he passed on that opportunity, as he had never seen people in his family drink coffee, and assumed that the black community does not enjoy coffee.
“My biggest mistake was not investing in Starbucks. I had the opportunity before Magic Johnson but I told Howard Schultz that black people don’t drink coffee because I never seen anyone in my family drink coffee.”
Magic Johnson eventually invested in Starbucks in 1998, creating a deal that would bring the coffee chain to underprivileged communities across the United States. Since then, Starbucks has gone on to become a juggernaut, the biggest coffee chain in the entire world.
While Shaq may regret not having invested in Starbucks, he does have a lot of lucrative deals to boast. One of his most impressive deals is the one he has with Walmart. Shaq famously ended his deal with Reebok after a lady told him she couldn’t afford his shoes, after which he signed a sneaker deal with Walmart.
Over the years, Shaq has shown that while he wants to invest, he will not put the bottom line above the people, as he explained why he makes affordable shoes from his brand for the fans. O’Neal will not put his personal business interests before his fans, the people he is trying to make these products for.
