Millionaire Shaquille O’Neal Beat Jeff Bezos to an Investment That Eventually Cost the Amazon Founder Billions: “I’m Not Paying No M*****F****** $80,000”

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is one of the richest athletes ever. Over the course of his long and illustrious career, Shaq has had success on and off the court. He signed the biggest NBA contract at the time when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. His personality earned him a lot of endorsements. The former MVP was not short of talents. He also earned his fortune from movies and music albums. Furthermore, O’Neal is arguably one of the smartest entrepreneurs and investors around.

Shaq’s $400 million net worth makes him one of the top 20 richest athletes ever and his business decisions have a lot to do with it. And his successful decisions were no fluke either. The four-time NBA champion had a very clear business strategy that helped him build his empire. Interestingly, his business strategy was inspired by the founder of Amazon, billionaire Jeff Bezos.

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The Los Angeles Lakers legend even disclosed that he quadrupled his net worth using the strategy. Funnily enough, Shaq’s Bezos-inspired strategy once helped him beat the billionaire himself to an investment. And Bezos had to shell out billions afterward.

Shaquille O’Neal used Jeff Bezos’ strategy to great effect

Shaquille O’Neal wanted to set up security cameras in his house and contacted a security company. And they quoted the Big Diesel $80,000 to set up security cameras, which the NBA legend did not want to spend. Shaq said, “I’m not paying no m*****f****** $80000.” Then he said found a product while shopping out shopping.

O’Neal revealed, “So I go to Best Buy. I’m getting TV and stuff at the house. And I see this little, Ring camera and the crazy thing about it is, I hooked it up myself. I put it on the door, I forgot about it. I’m away in China, and somebody rings the bell, and I’m talking to him. I was like, ‘Damn! My people don’t know about this…'” 

The investor in him kicked in and he wanted to lay his hands on the product first. So he met with the company and informed them of his desire to invest. He also told them that he can endorse the product which the company needs to pay for. Then the product caught the eyes of Jeff Bezos. As per reports, a year after Shaq’s investment, Bezos bought the company for $1 billion.

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The Hall of Famer’s investment strategy is simple yet powerful. He invests in products that have the potential to change the lives of people. Shaq has often said that he does not invest in products he does not believe in.