“My Only Regret”: Despite Google Turning $100,000,000 Into $1.35 Trillion, Early Investor Shaquille O’Neal Still Unhappy About His Decision

Basketball or business, Shaquille O’Neal knows his game. After retiring from the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers icon is now donning a business tycoon’s hat. Shaq’s business interests range from endorsements to franchise ownership. The big man is also an avid investor, putting money into some big names like Apple and Google. Despite amassing a huge fortune as dividends from Google, Shaq seems to be a bit unhappy as an early investor.

When 4x NBA champion invested in Google, it was only a multi-million dollar company. Now under the holding company Alphabet, the most popular search engine is worth north of a trillion dollars.

Shaquille O’Neal has regrets over his early investment in Google

Lakers veteran Magic Johnson inspired Shaquille O’Neal to always have an eye on the world of business. As a result, Shaq started to invest his hard-earned money while he was still active on the hardwood. A year after Google was founded, Shaquille O’Neal invested in its Series A in 1999. Shaq had then placed a $100 million valuation on the table. Today, Google, under Alphabet, values at approximately $1.35 trillion.

The Los Angeles Times has given a bird’s-eye view of Shaquille O’Neal’s myriad business interests in a report. Taking the reader through most of the big man’s investments and endorsements, the report has touched upon his early investments in Google and Apple.

According to the LA Times, the 4x-NBA champion has a small regret about his investment in Google. “My only regret is that I wish I would have bought more,” O’Neal told author Zack O’Malley Greenburg about his Google investment, for the book “A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley.”

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Shaquille O’Neal may regret he could have invested more in the tech giant. The return on investment, however, to put it mildly, is impressive with the $100 million company turning into a trillion-dollar giant. The story behind Shaq’s investment in Google is only as off-beat as his persona.

How Shaq ended up investing in Google

Interestingly, Shaq made this iconic investment decision way before Google’s initial public offering. However, had the 4x-NBA champion not kept his eyes and ears open, he would not have put money in the search engine.

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As the story goes, in the 90s, Diesel overheard two Google employees talking about the then-novel technology in a Beverly Hills hotel. Fascinated by the idea of a search engine, O’Neal put his sixth sense to work and got some of Google’s pre-IPO shares. Shaq to this day owns some of the original shares of Google.