Shaquille O’Neal’s portfolio includes 40 gyms, 150 car washes, 155 Five Guys Burger & Fries, 9 Papa John’s, 17 Auntie Anne’s pretzels, and a few Krispy Kreme over the years. Also, the Lakers legend has invested in big firms like Lyft Inc., Ring, and Vitaminwater at their startup stage. He stands at a whooping net worth of $500 million. But Shaq reveals he did not have a mentor to help him kickstart. If you ask him, another factor played a crucial role instead.

As one of the partners of Campus, an online education platform with professors from top universities, Shaq made an appearance on the final episode of The Grind, a business plan competition by the platform. As the presentations of the student entrepreneurs came to a close, the 4x champion, a judge in this journey, had to admit how great of an experience it has been for those enrolled.

“I’m jealous of you guys. I wish I had a professor like this to teach me this stuff. Cuz again I know some of you may look up to me but I’m lucky, I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world,” he said pointing at the mentors, specifically, Professor Rick Rasmussen, who also teaches at UC Berkley. The Big Diesel may now have a massive business empire, but his initial days saw his ideas being paid no heed.

“I always tell a story how I fail my marketing class similar to this and I came in with Shaq shoes, Shaq shirts, and the guy gave me an F. He said, ‘You didn’t put any thought into it. Big guys never sale’ and I was kind of discouraged.” The 4x NBA Champion continued, “So make sure you give this guy some love and give him a around on the applause cuz he’s awesome. Love you brother.”

A graduate in Finance, Marketing & Entrepreneurship, Rasmussen has garnered 20 years of experience across Kazakhstan, South Korea, and Ukraine, among others. He believes teaching helps spark a lightbulb moment in his students and that’s what he has aimed for on The Grind. The professor can be seen giving crucial advice every step of the way as he took the students a step closer to living their dreams with every episode.

The winner was awarded $25,000 to help start their business. No wonder Shaq considers it a wonderful opportunity. But it’s not like did not find a mentor for himself in the later stages.

Shaquille O’Neal added certain Magic to his successful ventures

“I got all this from Magic Johnson… I just took his blueprint and ‘Shaqtified’ it, and here we are.” Because Johnson taught him the important lesson of owning things. When he entered the league at 19 years of age, he signed a contract of $40 million (one with Orlando Magic and another with Reebok). This was reportedly the most lucrative deal in the league’s history.

But not everything he earned would come into his pocket 100%. He thus wanted to put some of it to good use. “I was making so much money like they say invest, but invest in what? what is investing? what do you invest in? So you got to like study these things,” the Lakers legend admitted, further revealing that he learned about LLCs and Subchapter S corporations and how one can avail of tax breaks.

That is why, in the space of one year, he has been able to jump into his net worth. From $400 million last year, to $500 million this year. And if he had the support from the very beginning, maybe he could have crossed the billion figure by now.