During an appearance on the Be Better Off Show, former NBA Star Shaquille O’Neal explained why he funded the master’s degrees of 15 of his friends.
On September 5, during the show, the basketball champion and serial entrepreneur discussed the value of education as well as his methods for accumulating wealth.
Shaquille O’Neal recalled a time when the individuals he was dealing with at a business meeting greeted him but then started speaking with the G.O.A.T.’s accountants and lawyers because they believed he didn’t understand business jargon.
He decided to pursue his master’s degree at the University of Phoenix, a school that is primarily online because of the encounter even though he preferred to learn in person. He made the decision to pay for 15 of his friends to enroll in the class and pursue their master’s degrees when the institution informed him that in-person classes were only available for classes with 15 or more students.
“I noticed that every time I’d go to a business meeting that the guys who we’re doing deals with would be like, ‘Hello Shaq, how are you doing?’ And then they would turn away and look at my lawyers and my accountants and all those guys,” he said. “So, I said, ‘Oh, you guys don’t think I’m in charge. You guys don’t think I understand the lingo. So I went and got my master’s from the University of Phoenix.”
“The University of Phoenix is an online program mostly,” he continued. “But I went to the head officials and said, ‘I don’t want to do it online. I want somebody to teach me in a class. And they came back and said, ‘Unfortunately, we can’t set up a classroom for one guy. You need 15 people. So, I paid for 15 of my friends to get their master’s.”
Shaquille O’Neal reportedly has a net worth of $400 million and has made excellent use of his education. Several Big Chicken restaurants are currently owned by the 50-year-old in Las Vegas. Currently, there are ten franchises in Las Vegas, and they have also spread to other states like California, New York, and Ohio. Along with more than 150 car washes, O’Neal has invested in a number of other franchises, including Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Papa John’s, and Krispy Kreme.