Shaquille O’Neal offered $5 million deal for ‘SWEAT’, but NBA superstar declined
Shaquille O'Neal recounted a story of a ridiculous business idea that he had to turn down despite it being worth over $5 million
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Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O’Neal has been known for a lot of things, his decorated NBA career, his media presence, and lastly his vast business ventures. Accompanying his countless businesses, Shaq also has the habit of doing the marketing and promotions for the products themselves. But one product idea has turned out to be so outlandish that Shaq declined a rather lucrative offer.
On a recent appearance on the Big Podcast, Shaquille O’Neal recounted the story of a huge cologne deal endorsement. The Lakers legend revealed that he had turned down the offer due to a rather disturbing reason. The deal was reportedly worth over $5 million according to him.
Guy comes in with the money already. He said ‘New company, I got $5 million’… said he wants to do a cologne… he wants me to go to the weight room and train in a suit and train in the suit and he was gonna collect my sweat and put it inside the cologne.
Shaquille O’Neal said
O’Neal continued that he instantly declined the offer citing the idea to be way too outrageous. Hilariously enough the cologne’s name was also already picked out to be Shaq’s last name in reverse – ‘Elliuqahs’.
I looked at the money and I looked at Kenny, I was like ‘This $5 million looks good, but I can’t do it’.
Shaquille O’Neal continued
Despite turning down the five million, the 7-footer boasts one of the best business portfolios of any athlete. The ‘Diesel’ is reported to have netted around $500 million from his endorsements. His $200 million career earnings from the NBA also made him one of the richest athletes in the world.
How many businesses does Shaquille O’Neal own?
Starting off way early in his career, Shaquille O’Neal was always smart with his money. Apart from starting his own shoe brand with Walmart, the Lakers legend’s investment moves started in the 90’s. His first investment was with Google in 1990, before the multi-billion dollar company even went public.
Shaq has also invested in successful startups like Apple, Lyft, and Ring, which have all turned into multi-billion dollar companies. His diverse investment portfolio includes 155 Five Guys Burgers franchises, 40 24-Hour Fitness franchises, 17 Pretzels franchises, 150 car washes, nightclubs in the city of Las Vegas, and a movie theater.
To add more to his business, the Lakers icon also opened up his own restaurant chain in 2018. The chain was later called the Big Chicken and still has proven to be a successful restaurant franchise. Overall, O’Neal is a great example of a celebrity entrepreneur with Forbes’s list even placing him in their list of Top 100 celebrities.
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Gerard Crispin
(3318 Articles Published)