EYL #141 Shaq on Building a $400 Million Dollar Business Empire

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My graduates from my school being forced back drop bags drop Mike, drop back drop.

Right now.

We're gonna reset the room and we're gonna give you a deep dive into one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all times, Shaquille O'Neill. If you watch euy L, you know it's no fluff. We get straight to it and very rare. Do you have an opportunity to have these kind of conversations when we interview Mark Cuban, when we interview Mike Novagratz, who's worth eight billion dollars, when we interview Rick Ross, when we interview Dame Dash It's like

What's happening? You're live in this motherfucker.

God damn, it's like it's like Game seven.

It is. What's going on? And the Hawks fans of the building.

Okay, okay, Shack Shack, First and foremost, thank you, brother, We appreciate it. PhD NBA gentlemen and a scholar. But more important than anything, great father. So before we start, I want to wish you yes and every father out there today.

Fathers, yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah.

So Shack, We're not even gonna waste any time. Let's get right into it. Everybody take your seats. Now, it's time to larn. It's tim a lure pads out. So Magic Johnson, the Great Magic Johnson, gave you some advice when he was eighteen years old about financial literacy. You know, we always hear about seventy percent of NBA players going broke, a lot of the NFL players going broke, rappers, entertainers. But you're somebody who obviously made a lot of money

It's a success story.

So what are some of the jewels that he gave you when you was a young man that you still carry with you to this day.

Well, at first, before I met Magic Johnson, I spend a million dollars in one day, so I knew nothing about financial literacy. My agent calls me and said, hey, I got a check for a million, so shit, you know me, I already had that black Mercedes lined up, so I said, I'm about to go get the Mercedes with the wheels, the pull out deck. So it costs one fifty. So when I get back to the crib, my dad said, where's mine at? So in my mind I'm like a million minus one fifty. Shit, I got

That's a valuable lesson, right.

We always made that quote that former education can make you a portion, but self education can make you a fortune.

And so I'm glad that you said that.

Part.

One of the things that I love that you.

Said is that you invest in things that changed people's lives, and so one of those things was Google in two thousand and four, before the IPO. Can you talk about how you got introduced to Google and the CEOs or the company itself.

Believe or not, that was by accident. Wow, I'm at the Four Seasons sitting in some white guys and their kids recognize me. So I'm just being nice, sound on the grass taking pictures, and a gentleman says, hey, man, I respect you. I like what you're doing in the community. I want to tell you about this company Google. I didn't know what he was talking about. So another good thing is always half. It's always important to have somebody smarter than you that works for you.

Yeah.

Absolutely, If you're the smartest guy in the room, there's a problem. So he talking all this white boy stuff. I don't know what he's talking about. But I was like, you know what, I got some white boys. I understand your language. It sounds good what you're saying, search Engine Future, all that sound good. But nah, I'm not doing that. I hooked him up with my guy. My guy was like, it looks pretty good, let's do it. I put in a bag, and then a couple of years later, I

Shit.

So the first thing I did. I was coming out of the Orlando Arena and this lady was chewing me a new one. You m efforts charging these babies three hundred dollars for shoes blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And I was like, ma'am, I don't make the price. I apologized, and I had some money in my pocket. I was like, here you go, baby, go buy your son Jordan's whatever he wants. She smacked the money out of my hand. So at that point I went home

Four hundred million plap it up for that, lap it up for that.

The mom's on it.

Mine's are twenty nine ninety five, nineteen ninety five. But see, the secret is, I know us. It's not that we don't want to wear twenty dollars shoes. We don't want to wear shoes that look like they cost twenty dollars. I know how to go, so again, I'll hire some designers. Shit, if the you know Adida's got three strikes, my shit gonna have four.

That's case Swiss, that's KSE Swiss.

Case whatever.

So and then you know, with with me being who I am, you know, some kids still get picked on when they go to school, but it's still a little bit of you know, respect behind my name.

People don't fully understand that. And I want to dive even deeper because as a young person, you have foresight. I believe you turned down a seven million dollar extension from Reebok to start your own company. So speak about that as far as the power of betting itself, because there's people out here who might have a two hundred

I took a chance.

What I realized from the previous business that I wasn't going to outsell Michael Jordan. But people know who I was right because Michael used to kill me a foot locker like they wasn't even looking at my shit, which is cool. I understand that's Mike and I ain't tripping.

Yes, yeah, yeah, copping up for yourselves for sure, for sure, But you don't you don't have to be a you don't have to own a business to be a CEO.

Being a CEO is a mentality. If you have that mentality, if you have that belief, it will work. Of course, there's gonna be some ups and downs. When I first started sell ten thousand pair, twenty thousand pairs, fifty thousand pair, and then it just kept going. So you know, I've been doing this since since ninety five, ninety five to now, that's what thirty something years, four hundred million pair. And then I went to China and did the same thing, get some of that Chinese money, getting ennyone.

Yeah.

But what people don't even digging even deeper to the situation where Reebop you actually designed the logo and talk about that because you I believe you did that when you was in college.

You know, it's crazy. It was simple how I did it? So Michael Jordan's jump Man and I dunk a lot shit. I'm dunk man, That's how I did it. So I went to no I'm saying. So I went to the office, got a registered. I can only afford to get a register across the United States, so I had it.

So we had a marketing class.

The marketing professor said, show us something that could be sold in the future. So I came with the Shak shirts, Shaq underwear, shak sock, Shack shoes. And at that time, big men were not selling. Only as was selling that was Doctor Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. So the guy gave me an f He said, this will never work because big guys don't sell. So then I thought about what

One of the other things that happened in college is and you actually turned into a business, was the lack of the ability to get car insurance. And so now you have a deal with the general insurance. Can you tell about that story, because a lot of times people see the commercial and they see the cartoon, it's oh, this is not serious, but no, this is something that you've been doing for a long time because of that story.

In college, everybody everybody had a car but me. So I'm walking one day and I see this Bronco too. That shit was raggedy, but it was a car fifteen hundred. So I get the peil grant for eighteen hundred. So yeah, we know that, we know the pelgrand so we know that. So I go to the bank and get about three hundred and I get the rest in ones, so I got the big knot. So then I go buy the car and the guy says, hey, man, before I let you drive, you need insurance. I'm like, what's insurance? He said,

So lo to you for that.

That's a fact.

Let's get back to this logo because I don't I think that that might have won over a few people's heads. It's valuable lessons in this situation. A you was in college, you was an All American, you're the top basketball player in college. You come up with an idea, your professor tells you that's a bad idea, gives you an f and said, big men are not marketable. So a I think that a lot of times in our life we

Do me a favor. If you feel like you're somebody, put your hand up. This is the quote I tell my kids. If a nobody can influence to somebody, then that nobody wins. But the question of the day is, who the fuck are you? Nobody think about that. I don't let people tell me what I can and can't do. It won't happen. So he's saying, he's saying, big guys ain't gonna sell it. I'm like, okay, all right, whatever, don't do this, don't do that, okay, whatever, Like it

That's a valuable lesson. A lot of people discount that.

Right.

I read this quote and said that failure is the beginning of the journey. It is right because after that point you've now learned what not to do.

So a lot of people got to get really understand that.

Right.

You have to feel at some point to know, and you learn from.

The mistakes of others.

So obviously Michael Jordan a goat, but he doesn't own the junk Man logo. And there's actually a lawsuit a few years ago with the photographer that took that picture. Nike paid them like ten thousand dollars. But think about how valuable that logo billions. That logo itself is worth billions of dollars. So you learned from that and said, Okay, I got the dunk Man logo, but you own that logo. So artists, entertainers, you see people that don't own their masters.

Yes, I've always learned from mistakes. My father was a drill sergeant. So when every every time somebody did something crazy, I got a whooping len bias passed away from doing cocaine. My father came in and told me a new one. He came in the house. He said, if you ever do coke, I'll kill you. And I'm so young and dumb, I was like, I don't. I don't do coke. I drink PEPSI. It just hit me with that, with the two piece bo bo. That's why I don't. That's why

So just the logo, I'm thinking from my perspective and I wanted your take on it. This is something that you sketched in college. If we go to LA right now, that logo is in front of the Staples Center.

What is that feeling like for you?

Oh, don't let that go over your head, ladies.

And this is an idea that he's sketched in his college. And then he got a statue in front of the Staples Center of that same logo.

I made for Christige.

I see, I see a lot of kids in here, and I tell kids the same thing. Listen to your mother and father. I wasn't the smartest guy in her room, wasn't the brightest guy in a room. But I listened to my mother and father. They believed in my dream. They made me believe in my dream, and I just I just wanted to fight. I'm a fighter. Like when you tell me I can't do nothing, I'm gonna just

So yeah, one of the things that you're known for is being a franchise owner. You own a bunch of franchises. They talked about it earlier, Papa John's twenty four hour fitness. Yeah, any other that I'm missing five guys, but you sold your soul far soul five guys.

I don't know.

But so the franchise. It's a lot of NBA players that a franchise. Jamal Mashburn, Chauncey Phillips, Chauncey Billups, Magic Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, a person that probably nobody here has ever heard that.

That's not true because they listened to lead hopefully. They want hopefully, so y'all should know Junior Bridgeman.

But Junior Bridgeman is interesting.

Can you talk about the story of Juliet Bridgeman and how he influenced you.

I always use people that are better than me to influence me. So coming up, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, doctor j and business is Junior Bridgeman because he did the same thing I did as a professional basketball player. After that, he bridge out into business. Dudes a billionaire. So even though I'm forty nine, I don't feel ashamed when I say I want to be like somebody else. I strive to be like him. And he owns a lot of things, and he is a very impressive man. The Papa Johns

And the marketing is amazing. By the way, So when you're going earners, what's up?

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Are you saying it was the off field play that made the difference on the field.

Hey, little play makes your day, and today it made the game. That's all for now, Coach.

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It's a come.

Is there a specific thing that you're looking for when you're trying to investigate company? Obviously you wanted to change lives, but is there any other crime area that you're looking for when you want to get into a company.

Man, I just want to make people happy and make people smile. So the general because that's affordable insurance. Ye, shack shoes for the kids. What else? Papa John's because you know we love pizza. Yeah, I sold my anti ns. Yeah, because black people don't like pretzels that much, so I had to switch it up.

Now, the cinnamon ones we eat? What the cinnamon flavored ones we eat? Right, y'all eat the cinnamon pretzels?

Yeah?

Yeah, nobody eat no cinnamon pretzels. We do.

If you don't get your motherfucking Vince Carter looking at us out there, you don't eat no cinnamon putting my hell no, they're crazy.

No choice, you're making. So it's the spices and all that.

No, I don't. Yeah, it was a good investor.

But like yah, bigs live man.

But before I'm gonna ask you another question.

But before we go there, it's a lesson in humility and not to look past anybody. The reason why I brought up Junior Bridgeman is because, like I said, the vast majority of people who've never heard of him. He played in the NBA in the nineteen seventies. I think the most he ever made was like two hundred thousand dollars. He worked in Windy's during the off season. He didn't work in Windy's because he needed the job. He worked in Windy's to learn the business. So after he was done,

Owner in the world, not American, in the world.

And he amassed a network for four hundred million dollars in a process no no, no, no no. So then he sold that. He sold all of those and flipped it and now he's nine hundred million. So Shaq said, he looks up to him. So if you just looking at it, like Junior Bridgeman, he's not an All Star, he's not a Hall of Fame. You might he might be in an audience right now you walk right past them.

You never know who you're sitting next to.

And just because you're not at the top of a certain level now doesn't mean you can't get to the top of something else later on.

And that's and that was one of the things.

He was at the top of a list, right So when you I read the story where he said that you searched up NBA players with the greatest fortune and you thought your name would be.

On them, I thought I was at the top.

You're even close to your surprise, it was Julia Bridgman.

You know it's crazy because I was at the airport too, like NBA richest players. I was like, I was like number seven. I'm like, damn, I'm broke compared to these dudes. But it just it just motivated And like the crazy thing is, I never wanted to be rich. I just wanted to be able to buy my mother or anything she wants. That's it. I don't care about. Look, you can't you can't take none of this with you, just like some of the ladies in here, and you know

I said.

The first thing I said, I said, when I get this money, you ain't gonna have to do nothing ever again in your life.

I heard a little West Indian.

Seriously like nothing so and she's she never asked me for nothing. But right before Kobe died, my sister passed away, so my family was living in Orlando. I only got to see him four times at work. It's like, y'all got to come home with me, So mother, go pick a house. You know she's still want of them old school, my baby, that's too much. I'm like, you want it, and like it feels good to just tell them, yeah, give me at without what iut do with without no

Do it?

Thank you appreciate it. So that's that's that's what I'm doing for. So you know my kids. My kids are older now and they're kind of upset with me and not really upset, but they don't understand.

Because I tell them all the time we ain't rich. I'm rich. Yeah, we don't know.

You got to You got to have bachelors or masters. And then if you want me to invest in one of your companies, you're gonna have to present it boom boom boom and bring it to me. I'll let you know. I'm not giving you nothing. The girls out, I'll take care of the girl. But my boys they're not getting nothing.

Do you see the entrepreneurial spirit and get children? I know some of the boys are playing basketball. Did you see that.

Spirit in them? Yeah?

I do, but I try to let them figure it out. You know, listen, it's one rule education. I don't care if you play basketball. I don't care about none of that. Because listen, I got six kids. I would like a doctor, somebody own a hedge fund, a pharmacist, a lawyer, someone who owns multiple businesses, someone to take over my business. But I tell them, I say we not. I'm not just going to hand it to you. You got to earn it so they'll they understand. So for Christmas, one

Let me ask you a question, cuz you're a very observant person and you make investments based off of the things.

That you observe. Ring.

You were early invested in Ring, and it's an interesting story.

So can you tell that story.

So this is the.

First time I'm not living like a spoiled breat I love Atlanta. These are my people. I live amongst the people, right. So I call a security company, say, hey, man, I need some cameras because people are still crazy now, so I need some cameras. So the dude comes to the house eighty thousand. I'm not paying no motherfucking eighty thousand.

Be there.

Call another company sixty five thousand. I'm not paying that either. So I go to best Buy. I'm getting TV and stuff at the house and I see this little the 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 way in China, me and my man Rock, we're doing like this. You know, there's this thing in China and somebody rings a bell and I'm talking to him. I was like, damn, my people don't know about this. So I went to the conference.

How much did Jeff Bezos by the company for you?

A cool billion?

A cool billion billion.

Billion would a be? Congrats on that one. Congratulations.

I didn't get that money.

I know you didn't early investor as an early investor.

Another another story that you told.

Me when I get a bigger Niles, I'm gonna start walking around with those shoes on.

Whoa motherfucker toes? Just out?

Shot shot, shot, shot shot. This picture is on the Internet of your toes.

I'm sorry.

You can't do that.

Toes just gonna be out.

You had you halfway there, you got sway sway loafers, halfway halfway there.

My shoes.

I like to shoot like this, we like to shoot like it's the toes that I'm concerned about.

My toes ugly as hell the word, respectfully.

Probably the worst. I've ever seen.

My ship bad, I know it.

Playing with the Great Kobe Bryant.

They got to happen. Where the god the cameras on his feet.

They put it?

Oh, y'all want to see my toes?

No?

No, no, yo zoo man.

I thought it was a photoshop the first time I saw it.

My ship terrible, damn, can't I see some things you can't.

I see you can'tot see that.

No, that might that's earned your leadre First, I'm not sure if that was a tone down on what the ugly feet?

So what billionaire feet?

Shack playing?

My feet looked better than them ugly short? You got on at that? I thought I wasn't gonna come back. Huh, what's wrong with them?

Don't let him do that? Shot it, y'all stop laughing. That's my brother, So I'm laughing, y'all.

What's happening?

He thought about that?

He thought about that shaky at what's shaky?

Why you need him shaky? Where you bat?

I got? I got reinforcements, man.

Nah playing playing, playing with the great Kobe Bryant, and as far as his work ethic, what did you learn from playing and seeing somebody so focused, so determined?

Uh? What did you learn from that?

And and what's some lessons that you can kind of give the people here because you played with him, and you as a teammate and you were a friend of his.

When I say I didn't learn anything from him, I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, because every CEO here has their own route, right, You don't have to follow my route. You got to follow your route. Kobe was different, like he worked, work, work, work, work, work, I work, go to the club, work, go to the mall, work in people's DM what like this. But he just wait wait wait wait where where were That? Ain't me? But the way he did it was just our mentals

I know that.

And the last five brothers that was up here, they're all CEOs, right, but you know why they all get along one word respect. So I'm sure they have arguments or beefs or whatever. But as long as the respect is there, the success will always be there. We had our differences. He wanted to shoot. I'm like, nah, don't shoot. Throw it to me.

Expectfully.

True story were in Massons squad guard. I'm at the free throw line. Halle Berry's walking down the steps. I had to call the time out. Huddle up, hey, Holly, here to see me. Don't nobody. Shoot that motherfuck up at me, Kobe, Nobody, No she here, shoot shoot shoot that ship. See what happened? One two, three? Break? And I made the first one, so I thought I was. I was like, hit, I made it. I missed the second one, though, but we are. It's just that was

No I'm not.

You know why I got to kimba my tumbo guarden me. I ain't got to do nothing, but that what I said, Hey, why aboutute check and alert?

He ain't worry about not speak speaking of Kobe. When I think of one of your greatest highlights, it's the crossover at the top of the key out of you that sends out to the finals.

I want to know what, in your.

Perspective, what is your greatest highlighting business thus far? What's something that you look at and say, you know what, this is incredible. I'm so proud that I did this.

I don't like to seem like I'm bragging. What I'm gonna ask you a question. Who owns who owns Marilyn Monroe? Marylyn Monroe Playboy? Who owns Elvis Presley? Who owns Forever twenty one? Who owns J C? Penny Me.

The Deezel? Yeah? My real.

Hey, stand up for that, y'all Stop playing Stop playing.

Talk heavy, talk heavy, My real talk to talk to.

So my real business, my real business is I own fifty brands. So when I was retiring, I'm looking around, I'm like, how does Michael Jackson and all these guys live forever? So one of the chapters in the book Joint Ventureship, So I called the three companies that helped people live forever, and they brought my band for a lot of money. So I took half that money put it back in the company. Now I'm the number two

They could.

They could have bought my brand and made me go away, but I'm like, nope, put money back in the company. Now I own all those other brands. So if Shat goes away, we still got Elvis. You ain't nothing but a hound dog. So that that's how I was looking expectfully.

Y'all want to see my toes again, Throw your.

Toes in the air in a way, talk heavy before we leave.

I want to, I want to. I want to end this vibe. You had the honor of sitting down with a lot of great people. You uhould do music. You got a bag from music. But you said that the late great Christopher Wallace, notorious b I G. You had the honor of him doing a song with you, and you say afterwards, your eight and he was telling you about his dreams about what he wanted to do in business, what he wanted to do an entrepreneurship, fatherhood. He never got a chance to do that. He was killed when

Living for today you take advantage of all opportunities. I like rapping. I'm not a rapper, right, I know this, So I go onto our Citio Hall show. I like being different. I don't want to just come in a suit and talk. So I say, yo, let me wrap up. My favorite rap group at the time is fu Shnaking. I killed it. So the next day my agent said, hey man, these guys want to give you a record deal. Like now, I'm not interested. Ten million for three albums. Shit,

So.

Then I said, yo, here's a pin in the pad because I had the studio at the house pinning in the pad. I'm gonna be in the house. Let me know when you get done. He said, no, I'm ready. Now, I say what you mean. He goes in the booth, killed it. But it was real raid and r and I was like, big.

I gotta tell this in Walmart.

I hated to do it too. He said, oh, yeah, the kids kids, my bad, and then he went and spit the other verse. But it was just it was just amazing. And then he was a cool guy. We're in the house and Ate got on the sea. Dude, he just told me all his dreams, I told him all my seekers. I told him how to get it done. And then the next time I see him was the night before he passed away.

He was a good brother.

But moral of the story is take advantage of all opportunities right now today.

Can we got one more question?

Yeah?

Go ahead, all right, all bonus route. It's called Bonus Round, it's called the biggest. So we had a lot of entertainers and athletes. They get robbed. We heard an unfortunate situation with Fato.

I saw a god. We interviewed him.

They give access to that business managers, they give access to the accountants to pay their bills for them.

And all of that. You learned that early on.

As far as the power of attorney in college, and you said you're not with that, Explain.

That you have to have education to know what you're looking at. See what I'm saying. So I have the education to when I feel like I'm getting robbed, I can go look at the books be like what is this. If you don't have education and you put trust in somebody else, then they can tell you whatever. So you know, like when I say educate yourself, you don't have to

It's okay to have somebody pay your bills.

But like me, I get something every first and at fifteenth and it comes straight to my office, which is my phone. So I go up the room. I like that hook up and I'm looking, hey, man, what's happening. We only saw how many pieces last week?

Nah?

Man, you need to fix you, Like, like, I know what I'm looking at like again. I can't say we sold a thousand pieces and then we only sold twenty. No, no, no, no no, something's wrong with that picture. Let me see your toes.

No glass boy talking about my toe?

Glass boy.

Gotta got I got you, Oh, Shack man, it's been an honor of pleasure. I gotta my son really wanted to come.

I got a question. Are you light skin of brown skin?

Oh?

Here you go? Here you go, yeah, cause here you go.

At you this son.

All the brown skin homies put your hand up, you light skin cats. Think y'all high, y'all niggas ain't hot, dark skinned, brown skin.

We run this.

We run this, Yo, play some drake.

You better not playing, no drake, drake on.

We only leave it.

If drake Come on, Shack, I gotta ask you what last day?

My son loves. He's ten years old, and I'm like, how you no? Shock?

I could tell he like skin, he got pretty lips, pretty team. Hey you got old. That's shot shock, that's fuss. Tell me about pretty as boy? Yo, I hate you, pretty mother? Oh my son. My son loves Shack, And I'm like, how you know?

Shock? He's ten years old.

He's like shocking a fool, So he I had to come, but he had to stay in New York for my cousin's graduation. But he's like, can you just give me a shout out? His name is na Sid. Can you give him a shout out? Does not see it like nas naw.

Sir, Uncle Shak want to say, listen to your father, listen to your mama, and always follow your dreams.

Yeah, tain away, hey, now give it up for the big Aristotle, the big Diesel.

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