Shaquille O’Neal massive $500 million business empire wasn’t built in a day. Just like his playing days, the Big Aristotle is competitive in his business as well. He constantly wants to do better than the rest. A similar story is behind Big Chicken. His jealousy led him to ask one question, and that started Big Chicken.

Perry Rogers, founder of management firm PRP, had an impressive resume and built the restaurant company JRS Hospitality. He had it in him, and the one who knew it better than anyone else was O’Neal. After watching his incredible work in the hospitality arm, Shaq wasn’t letting anyone get ahead. After JRS started picking up, he contacted Rogers, as he recalled in a conversation with host Shawn Walchef at the 2024 Big Chicken franchise conference in Las Vegas.

“Shaquille came to me in 2017 and said, ‘You’ve built this big restaurant company. I am a little bothered. What have you built for me?'” Rogers said about O’Neal’s question. This $500 million-rich client had a big task for Rogers. The 4x NBA champion was looking to move a little bit away from investment and build something of his own. “He (Shaq) said, ‘yeah, I’m an investor. You know, I want a legacy. I want something that’s mine.’ So we went to work and thought about what that would be, what fits Shaquille, what reflects his values, what reflects his persona, and came up with Big Chicken,” Rogers said.

That is when the two began to work on what would reflect O’Neal’s persona. And that is how Big Chicken came into being.

Shaq brought in a whole lot of his family and personal life when curating the menu. The crispy chicken sandwiches, tenders, Cheez-It® crusted mac n’ cheese, and hand-crafted ice cream shakes, all come from the the NBA icon’s childhood favorites. He has also recently started involving his daughter Taahira in marketing operations while mom Lucille has been a close inspector of the recipes. 

While the team has big plans in store involving the O’Neal family, the first launch was in Las Vegas in 2018. Rogers recalled how there were many hurdles, and they learned so many things along with the growth and expansion of Big Chicken. After a few years, they hired another person who could lead Big Chicken — Josh Halpern as CEO. 

In conversation with SportsRush, the CEO revealed how the whole of the family is involved in running the chain. While Taahira calls to give ideas, Myles helped with the suppliers. “I think that’s the beauty in this. It’s not just Shaquille’s business, this is really the O’Neal family business,” he said.

The Los Angeles Lakers legend’s Big Chicken is now looking forward to another new chapter.

What’s happening in Big Chicken? 

As part of an ambitious plan to open nearly 300 restaurants, Big Chicken Shaq recently opened a new location in Mississippi. As per sources, there are also plans to bring Big Chicken closer to food lovers through a food truck. And while Shaquille O’Neal stays distant from using AI, the Big Aristotle has openly welcomed AI in his business.

CEO of CrowdfundX, Darren Marble, raised a $10 million seed round for Big Chicken and obtained an $8.5 million commitment through Issuance, founded in 2018. “Breaking: we’ve secured a $750K allocation in Shaq’s Big Chicken,” Marble announced on X recently. He promoted the $750,000 investment opportunity in the SPV with a post saying, “Interested in being ‘last money in’ in Shaq’s Big Chicken deal?” with investments open to only accredited investors.

Big Chicken was already valued at $37.5 million, as Marble mentioned before. While not much is known, this new move will likely open up a new chapter for the company.