NBA Icon Shaquille O'Neal Says An Accidental Babysitting Gig Led To His Early Investment In Google – 'You're Good With Kids. I Like You.'

Shaquille O’Neal, the former NBA superstar, has seen his fair share of investments. Still, one of his most notable financial decisions came through babysitting – something he didn't expect to be doing. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, O’Neal detailed how this casual encounter led to one of his most lucrative opportunities. However, not all of his investments began as favorably.

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Discussing his ventures, O’Neal recounted what he considers his “worst investment ever.” He had a chance to partner with Starbucks when its CEO, Howard Schultz, proposed expanding into African American communities. O’Neal explained his initial skepticism: “So, me growing up, I’d never seen Black people drink coffee. So I look to the owner of Starbucks and say, ‘it’s not going to work. Black people don’t drink coffee.’” This decision, he admits, did not age well, humorously noting, “So now, every time I go to Starbucks, I see Black people drinking coffee, I’m like–”

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Passing on Starbucks may have been a huge mistake, but he still got in early on one of the most powerful tech companies ever. While at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles around 1993 or 1994, he babysat a couple of children whose father was in a meeting. After the meeting, the father, impressed with Shaq’s rapport with his children, offered him an investment opportunity in a then-little-known startup named Google. “You’re good with kids. I like you. I’m going to bring you in on this investment,” the father said. He described the future of Google, envisioning a world where “you’re going to be able to type on your phone, search engine, this, do this, boom, boom, boom. You should invest.”

Shaq took the advice and the rest is history. “I invested. And then, a couple of years later, I got a really big return,” he shared with DeGeneres. The exact amount Shaq invested in Google was never disclosed. 

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In Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s book, "A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley," Shaq reflects on his successful investment in Google. He recounts how he stumbled into the opportunity simply by being at the right place at the right time and engaging with the right people. Despite the success, O’Neal expressed one significant regret: “My only regret is that I wish I would have bought more.”

With a massive net worth of $500 million, his career is legendary. “I always wanted to be a business owner and now I am,” Shaq once remarked, according to a Marca article. His business ventures and endorsements are as iconic as his athletic achievements, showcasing his versatility and acumen in both arenas. 

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