It’s no secret that Shaquille O’Neal is one of basketball’s richest stars. A recent Audacy poll placed him at No. 5 on the richest basketball stars list (where he’s tied with Vinnie Johnson), and there’s been much speculation about the true nature of his bank account.
While his famous ex-wife, Shaunie, confirmed that Shaquille O’Neal certainly isn’t poor, it wasn’t until he dropped his financial portfolio that people realized how wealthy the NBA legend truly is.
So what is Shaquille O’Neal’s net worth?
Shaquille O’Neal’s Whopping $400 Million Net Worth
As of 2021, Shaquille O’Neal is worth $400 million. Celebrity Net Worth confirms that the superstar athlete-turned-sportscaster brings in a $60 million salary each year between his residuals, his various endorsement deals, and his NBA commentator gigs. During his basketball career, he earned $292 million just in salary.
But that’s far from the only thing that Shaq has his hands in.
He’s also the joint owner of several Auntie Anne’s Pretzels restaurants, over 100 car washes, and 40 24-hour fitness centers. And, as he explained online (via the Atlanta Black-Star), his main moneymaker is all the brands he owns — and the names may shock you.
“My real business is I own 50 brands,” Shaquille O’Neal explained. “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 venture-ship. So, I called the three companies [seemingly Authentic brand group, Simon property group, and Brookfield property partners] that helped people live forever, and they bought my brand for a lot of money. So, I took half that money, put it back in the company, now I’m the number two guy in the company.”
And while Shaquille O’Neal didn’t clarify how much of a percentage of brands he owned, or whether the brands he bought were purchased outright, he confirmed that he owned parts of Playboy, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and JCPenney.
Shaquille O’Neal also made some money in real estate deals. In January 2021, he sold his customized mansion in Florida for more than $16 million, after only paying $4 million when he purchased the property. He also had a bit of minor success with selling his L.A. mansion for $2.5 million in 2019, after paying $1.8 million for the Bell Canyon mansion the year before.
Finally, his biggest money deal was with Papa John’s. After disgraced CEO John Schnatter stepped down in 2018, Shaquille O’Neal stepped up to the plate to become a member of the board in 2019. That deal netted him a salary totaling more than $8 million in stocks and cash. He also invested $840,000 of his own money to buy 30 percent of a 9-unit franchise of Papa John’s in Atlanta.