Shaquille O’Neal’s business portfolio inspires LSU athlete Flau’jae Johnson.
O’Neal has positioned himself as the ultimate businessman. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the former Los Angeles Lakers player with four rings and $286.3 million in career earnings was an early investor in Google “by accident.” After running into a high-profile investor at the Four Seasons, he caught wind of the tech company, which now boasts a $2.29 trillion valuation per Companies Market Cap. Convinced of its potential, O’Neal moved forward with an investment in the company and later discovered in a newspaper that he hit the jackpot.

“The newspaper told me how much I made and I couldn’t believe how much I made,” he said, according to TechCrunch.

O’Neal’s portfolio also includes Big Chicken, a fast-casual restaurant chain with restaurants nationwide, and Authentic Brands Group, where he is its second-largest shareholder. The brand management company profits from not only O’Neal’s name and likeness but also Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jackson. O’Neal has also said on record that his investment decisions were influenced by billionaire Mark Cuban, who encouraged him to invest in the alcoholic beverage brand BeatBox. It is no surprise that the next generation is studying O’Neal’s footprint.

“Shaq’s portfolio is the most impressive crazy business portfolio that I’ve seen,” Johnson explained on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast. “And my coach coached him, coach Bob Starkey. So he be telling like, ‘No, you got to watch Shaq, like you got to do what he did in business and all the companies and things he’s over.’ It’s just incredible.”

Johnson is making her own mark and strengthening her brands with the help of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, which include Unrivaled, Mondelez’s Oreo, and Nissan. On3 reports her NIL valuation currently sits at $1.5 million.

She also mentioned she plans to follow O’Neal’s strategic decision to follow through with companies that will be part of a long-term plan.

 “That’s how I think about my NIL deals. I’m not going to do a deal if I don’t see myself being long-term. It’s something I don’t enjoy. He doing it the right way,” she said.