SHAQ ON BUILDING A $400 MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS EMPIRE

25:10You'll never win and all that. And I'm saying, okay, you're a nobody. I'm a somebody. I ain't trying to heal all that. And, you know, you just keep fighting. So the first four years, me and Kobe, we got swept. We didn't give up. We just kept going. And then we won three in a row. I got traded. You all know the story. But, again, it doesn't matter what anybody tells you. It's what you believe. And, again, everybody here is a CEO. The CEO is mental. So 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, 24-Hour Fitness.

25:49Any other that I'm missing? Five guys, but you sold five guys. I don't know. But so the franchise, there's a lot of NBA players that are franchising. Jamal Mashburn. Yep, Chauncey Billups. Chauncey Billups, Magic Johnson. Junior Bridgman, a person that probably nobody here has ever heard of. No, that's not true, because they listen to Earn Your Legion. Well, hopefully, if they won. Hopefully. So y 'all should know who Junior Bridgman is. But Junior Bridgman is interesting. Can you talk about the story of Junior Bridgman and how he influenced you? I always use people that are better than me to influence me.

26:26So coming up, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Dr. J. In business is Junior Bridgman. Because he did the same thing I did. He's a professional basketball player. After that, he bridged out into business. Dude's a billionaire. So even though I'm 49, 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's a very impressive man. The Papa John's is a very interesting story. So after the dude did what he did, I was already trying to get franchises, but he kind of turned me down. So after the dude did what he did, a friend of mine said, hey, we're going to go buy Papa John's.

27:11I said, what you mean? He said, come with me. So we go in, and a friend that I know, he buys Papa John's. And he says, Shaq, I want you aboard. I said, well, you know you messed up with my people. He said, no, it wasn't me. It was him. I said, well, you know they messed up with my people. I said, if you put me on board, I got to be on the board. I got to be in charge, and I got to get some franchising. I got to help y 'all understand what's going on. So the first thing I did when they came in, they would say, hey, man, the numbers are still the same. We're not getting any better. I said, can I be frank?

27:49I said, yeah. I said, how y 'all going to call people the N-word and then charge them the highest price for pizza? We ain't going for that shit. Talk about it. Talk about it. We ain't going for that. So I said, first thing you need to do, drop them prices, dog. So you drop the prices. things start getting back. And at first, I took a lot of flack. And I understood because a lot of times I don't tell people what I'm doing because I don't want it to be perceived as bragging. He'd do this, he'd do that. I'm doing business for me. It was a great thing to do. And listen, Papa John's is a good brand.

28:24The guy just messed up, but he had to pay for that. He sold it to us. So now that he sold it to us, I'm just going to make sure it's right, slowly but surely. But a lot of people, you sell out this and that, but one thing I would never do is sell my people out. I would never, like, if he was still involved. Yes, sir. Listen, if he was still involved, I would never do that. But he out. My man owned it, and I own it now. So we straight.

28:53And the marketing is amazing, by the way. So when you're going into company, is there a specific thing that you're looking for when you're trying to invest in a company? Obviously, you wanted to change lives, but is there any other criteria that you're looking for when you want to get into a company? I mean, I just want to make people happy and make people smile. So the general, because there's some affordable insurance. Yep. Shaq shoes for the kids. What else? Papa John's, because you know we love pizza. Auntie Anne's. Yeah. I sold my Auntie Anne's. Okay. Yeah, because black people don't like pretzels that much.

29:25So I had to switch it up. Now, the cinnamon ones we eat. The what? The cinnamon-flavored ones we eat. We eat the, right? Y 'all eat the cinnamon pretzels. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, I don't nobody eat no cinnamon pretzels. We do. If you don't get your motherfucking Vince Carter looking ass out there. You don't eat no cinnamon pretzels. Put them in hell now. Dude, crazy. Nah, nah, Troy's Jamaican, so it's the spices and all that. Nah, I don't. Yeah, at first it was a good investment, but like the members. Big T. Zakwan, man.

30:07I'm going to 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 Bridgman is because, like I said, the vast majority of people have never heard of him. He played in the NBA in the 1970s. I think the most he ever made was like$200 ,000. He worked in Wendy's during the offseason. He didn't work in Wendy's because he needed a job. He worked in Wendy's to learn the business. So after he was done, he started investing in Wendy's franchises. He ended up owning over 400 Wendy's franchises and became the second largest Wendy's franchise owner in the world, not America, in the world.

30:41And he amassed a net worth of$400 million in the process. No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. So then he sold that. He sold all of those and flipped it, and now he's$900 million. So Shaq said he looks up to him. So if you're just looking at it like Junior Bridgman, he's not an all-star. He's wide. He's not a Hall of Fame. He might be in the audience right now, and you walk right past him. 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 was one of the things. He was at the top of a list, right?

31:18So I read the story where you said that you searched up NBA players with the greatest fortune, and you thought your name would be on there. I thought I was at the top. I'm not even close. And to your surprise, it was Junior Bridgman. You know what's crazy? Because I was at the airport, too. Like NBA richest players. I was like.

31:47I was like number seven. I'm like, damn, I'm broke. Compared to these dudes. But it just, it just motivates. And, like, the crazy thing is I never wanted to be rich. I just wanted to be able to buy my mother anything she wants. That's it. I don't care about it. Look, you can't take none of this with you. Just like some of the ladies in here and, you know, some of your parents, my mom used to cook us breakfast, iron our clothes, go to work, come home, cook dinner, never complain. So that was motivating for me. First thing I said, I said, when I get this money, you ain't going to have to do nothing ever again in your life.

32:35I heard a little West Indian. No, 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 them 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 one of them old school moms. Baby, that's too much. I'm like, you want it? And, like, it feels good to just tell them, yeah, give me that. Without no checking credit or none of that. Like, the lady was like, she was like, I need to check your credit. I was like, I beg your pardon?

33:15Excuse me? Straight cash, homie. Straight cash. My mama's like, baby, don't do that. I was like, hold on, mama. She disrespected me. Hey, lady. I want this house and I want the 10-day closing right now. Do it. Thank you. Appreciate it. So that's what I do it for. So, you know, my kids, my kids are older now, and they're kind of upset with me. 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. No, you got to have bachelors or masters, and then if you want me to invest in one of your companies, you're going to have to present it, boom, boom, boom, bring it to me.

33:58I'll let you know. I'm not giving you nothing. The girls, I'll take care of the girls, but my boys, they're not getting nothing. Do you see the entrepreneurial spirit in your children? I know some of the boys are playing basketball. Do 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. Listen, I got six kids. I would like a doctor, somebody that owns a hedge fund, a pharmacist, a lawyer, someone that owns multiple businesses, someone to take over my business.

34:34But I tell them, I said, I'm not just going to hand it to you. You got to earn it. So they understand. So for Christmas, one of my sons got all A's. I said, man, go pick what you want. So he come back with the Tesla. I said, you better take your ass across the street to the Chargers. Better get you a Charger. I ain't getting no motherfucking Tesla. No, dog. Better get you a Charger. The V6 and that. I get the Hellcat. You don't get the Hellcat. Let me ask you a question because 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.

35:21So can you tell that story? So this is the first time I'm not living like a spoiled brat. 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 said, I need some cameras. So the dude comes to the house, 80 ,000. I'm not paying no motherfucking$80 ,000 beat it call another company

35:54$65 ,000 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 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 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. I told the guy, I said, hey, my name is Shaquille O 'Neal. I want to invest in your company and you're going to pay me to do commercials. And then whatever happens, happens.

36:30So I invested some money in it. And then a year later, Jeff Denzos bought the company. I mean, because look, it's good for us. It's affordable security that really works. I mean, just think about it. My other security and my other house, I paid a lot of money for it. They don't call the phone. You can't see who's, you know, doing what. So I actually like this guy. I was like, you know what? I want to invest. And, you know, he did. How much did Jeff Bezos buy the company for, Troy? A cool billion. A cool billion. Billion. Billion with a B. With a B. That's nice. Congrats on that one. Congratulations.

37:07I didn't get that money. I know you didn't. You got a portion. As an early investor. as an early investor. As an early investor. Another story that you told. Hey, when I get a billion dollars, I'm gonna start walking around with no shoes on. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Motherfucker, toes just out. Shaq, Shaq, Shaq, Shaq, Shaq, this picture's on the internet of your toes. Oh, I'm sorry. You can't do that. Toes just gonna be out. You halfway there. You got suede loafers. Halfway, halfway there. You don't like my shoes? No, no, we like the shoes, bro. We like the shoes. We like the shoes. It's the toes that I'm concerned about.

37:47My toes ugly as hell. Oh, they ain't a word. My shit terrible. Respectfully, respectfully. Probably the worst I've ever seen. My shit bad. I know it. Playing with the great Kobe Bryant.

38:04What he got? The camera's on his feet. Oh, they put it. Oh, y 'all want to see my toes? No, no.

38:14Oh, no! Yo, zoom in. Zoom in. Zoom in.

38:24I thought it was a Photoshop the first time I saw it. My shit terrible.

38:32Damn. Can't unsee. Some things you can't unsee. You can't unsee that. No. That's an earned your leisure first. That's a fact. I'm not sure if that was a tone. I don't know what that was. I got ugly feet, so what? Billionaire feet. Shaq, play it. My feet look better than them ugly ass shorts you got on. Oh, you thought about that. You thought I wasn't going to come back. Bam, bam, bam, bam. Huh? Huh? What's wrong with him? Don't let him do that, Shaq. Yo, stop laughing, yo. That's my brother. Stop laughing, yo. Nah, what's happening? He thought about that. He thought about that. Yeah, he took some time.

39:09Where's Shiggy at? Where's Shiggy when you need him? Damn. Shiggy, where you at? I got reinforcements, man. Nah, um, 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? What did you learn from that? And what's some lessons that you can kind of give the people here? because you played with him and you was a teammate and you was 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 in here has their own route, right? You don't have to follow my route.

39:52You got to follow your route. Kobe was different. Quick one before you jump back in. You're listening for ways to help teams move faster, make sharper decisions, and turn scattered context into work they can use. ChatGPT for Business can help. Chat GPT for Business gives teams a shared workspace with admin controls, permissions, and access to work and codecs in Chat GPT. This means your business can move from question to answer and code to rollout quicker. Join over 10 million business and enterprise users worldwide already using Chat GPT for Work. Download the Chat GPT desktop app or contact sales to learn more.

40:30When traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates, and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check Lyft before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day depending on traffic, weather, and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner, or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check Lyft could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money. Check Lyft. Picture this. You're the owner of a plumbing company descending into an 18-inch crawlspace to hydrojet a sewer line.

41:09Don't ask. Oh, boy, this is tight. I knew I shouldn't have had that extra helping of mashed potatoes last night. Now let's say your phone rings. Uh-oh. It could be a lead on a very big job. I better get that. Or it could just be a spam call. Oh. But thanks to Ruby's call screening and seamless integration with the CRM system you already use, by the time you come up for air, your next job will already be waiting. Oh. This is Ruby, the team of remote receptionists who answer all your calls live. We do everything a great receptionist does, only better. Experience the new Ruby for yourself. Visit ruby.com.

41:55Or better yet, call us. 866-GET-RUBY. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-844-IHEART to get started. That's 844-844-IHEART. He work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work.

42:35I work, go to the club. Work, go to the mall. Work in people's DM. Work like this. But he just work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. That ain't me. but the way he did it was just our mentals were similar he wanted to be the best ever I didn't want to be the best ever I wanted to be the most dominant ever but he worked and he worked and I'm glad he did because I definitely wouldn't have got three without him I know that and and the last five brothers that was up here they were 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 want to shoot I'm like nah don't shoot throw it to me respectfully True story.

43:49We in Madison Square Garden. I'm at the free throw line. Halle Berry's walking down the steps. I had to call a timeout.

44:00Huddle up. Hey, Halle here to see me. Don't nobody shoot that motherfucker but me. Colby, nobody. No, she here to see me. Shoot that shit and see what happened. one two three break

44:24and I made the first one so I thought I was like shit I made it

44:33I missed the second one though but we always just that was our argument I shoot you shoot that's because you got two CEOs on the same team. And he was definitely a CEO the way he thought, the way he played, and that's why he's one of the greatest ever. And again, I'm glad I was a part of that.

45:00But each individual CEO has their own route. The way he did it is cool. The way I did it is cool, but you have to create your own route. He never went to the club. I got to go to the club. When I come to, like, when we was in L.A. and I'm coming to Atlanta, we got a night off. Magic City, baby. Make it rain. Trick, trick, make it rain. What you think, I'm going to just sit in the room? No, I'm not. And focus on the game? No, I'm not. You know why? I got Dikembe Mutombo guarding me. I ain't got to do nothing for that. You're not even worried. Yeah, oh, you heard what I said? Barbecue chicken alert.

45:43Ain't worry about that. Speaking of Kobe, when I think of one of your greatest highlights, it's the crossover at the top of the key alley-oop that sends you out to the finals. I want to know, in your perspective, what is your greatest highlight in 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, but I'm going to ask you a question. Who owns Marilyn Monroe? Marilyn Monroe. Playboy? Who owns Elvis Presley? Who owns Forever 21? Who owns JCPenney? Me. The Diesel. So, yeah, I own my real.

46:39Hey, stand up for that, y 'all. Stop playing. Stop playing. Talk heavy. Talk heavy. My real. Talk to him. Talk to him. So, my real business, my real business is I own 50 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 help 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, and now I'm the number two guy in the company. Instead of taking all that money and just saying, okay, you control 50 % of my brand?

47:25Nope, I'm going to put it back in. just in case. Because you always got to keep an eye on them, right? 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 Shaq goes away, shit, we still got Elvis.

47:44You ain't nothing but a hound dog. So that's how I was looking at it. Respectfully. Y 'all want to see my toes again before I leave? No, no, no. Throw your toes in the air and wave them like that. Talk heavy. Before we leave, I want to end this vibe. You had the honor of sitting down with a lot of great people. You used to do music. You got a bag for 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 said afterwards, you're eight, and he was telling you about his dreams, about what he wanted to do in business, what he wanted to do in entrepreneurship, fatherhood.

48:30He never got a chance to do that. He was killed when he was 24 years old. So people here, can you talk about that and what's the importance of living for today, taking action today, because tomorrow's not a promise? In living for today, you take advantage of all opportunities. I like rapping. I'm not a rapper, right? I know this. So I go on the Arsenio Hall show. I like being different. I don't want to just come in a suit and talk. So I say, yo, let me rap on my favorite rap group. At the time, it was Fushnickens. Fushnickens, yeah. I killed it. So the next day, my agent said, hey, man, these guys want to give you a record deal.

49:15I'm like, no, I'm not interested. I said, 10 million for three albums. Shit, I'll take it. I'll take it. But then I said, you know what? They're not going to like me rapping by myself. Tell them I want to rap with all my favorite rappers. They agreed to it. So I get a song called You Can't Stop the Rain, and I'm riding in the car. I already got my verse done, and Biggie says my name. I'm slamming brothers like Shaquille. I'm like, even though I'm in Shaq, I'm still a kid and a fan. I'm a regular person. I'm like, damn, Biggie know who I am? So I had somebody contact Puff. I send a jet to go get Biggie.

49:53He comes down. So now I'm like, this Biggie. I already got my verse done. If Biggie say my shit is terrible, I'm going to be devastated. So I'm like, and I hit play, and Big, he's like, whew. So then I said, yo, here's a pen and a pad, because I had the studio at the house. Pin in the pad. I'm going to be in the house. Let me know when you get done. He said, no, I'm ready now. I said, what you mean? He goes in the booth. Killed it. But it was real rated R. And I was like, big. I got to sell this at Walmart. I hated to do it, too. He said, oh, yeah, kids, kids, my bad. And then he went and spit the other verse.

50:38But it was just amazing. And then he was a cool guy. I went in the house to eight, got on the C-Dude. He just told me all his dreams. I told him all my secrets. I told him how to get it done. And then the next time I see him was the night before he passed away. I mean, 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. Bonus round. It's called bonus round. It's called the biggest. So we hear a lot of entertainers and athletes. athletes, they get robbed. We heard an unfortunate situation with Fat Joe.

51:14That's our guy. We interviewed him. They give access to their business managers. They give access to their 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 say 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? Like 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 have a degree.

51:50Look in that book, Dummy's Got How to Start Your Business. Learn about assets and liabilities. Learn about, you know what I'm saying, learn about, you know, debits and credit, do's and don'ts. So that's the first thing I wanted to do. I got the book, then I got my bachelor's, then I got my masters. Because every time I go set up a meeting, it'll be me and my white boys. Like the people be like, hey Shaq, how you doing? And then they turn and start talking to my white boys. They don't know I'm in charge. The white boys work for me. So I said, okay. I got it. Y 'all don't think I know what I'm talking about.

52:23Wayne got my masters. So now, everybody talk to me. And you just have to be educated to know what you're looking at. It's okay to have somebody pay your bills, but like me, I get something every 1st and the 15th. And it comes straight to my office, which is my phone. So I go in the room, I light that hookah up, and I'm looking.

52:49Hey man, what's happening? We only sold how many pieces last week? Nah man, you need to fix it. Like I know what I'm looking at. Like I can't say we sold a thousand pieces and then we only sold 20. No, no, no, no, no. Something's wrong with that picture. Let me see your toes. Ugly ass boy. You talking about my toes. Ugly ass boy. I got you.

53:21Don't do that. All right, man. I got you. Oh, Shaq, man. It's been an honor, a pleasure. I got it. My son really wanted to come. I got a question. Huh? Are you light-skinned or brown-skinned? Oh, here you go. Here you go. Yeah, cause... Here you go. I'm glad it's you this time. All the brown-skinned homies, put your hand up. You light-skinned cats think y 'all hot. Y 'all niggas ain't hot. Dark-skinned, brown-skinned, we run this. We run this.

53:57Yo, play some Drake. You better not play no Drake. Put some Drake on. You better play some Biggie. We only leaving if Drake come on. Shaq, I got to ask you one last thing. My son loves, he's 10 years old, and I'm like, how you know Shaq? I can tell he light-skinned. He got pretty lips, pretty teeth. Yo, ay, yo. Hey, yo. That's good ass, boy. Ay, yo. That's Paul's. Fuck, you got on lipstick. That's Paul's. That's Paul's. Shaq. Shaq, that's Paul's. Tell me about pretty-ass boy. Yo. I hate you pretty motherfuckers. Oh, my son loves Shaq. And I'm like, how you know Shaq? He's 10 years old. He's like Shaq and a fool.

54:39So he wanted 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 Nasir. Can you give him a shout-out? Nasir. Nasir, like Nas. Nasir, his Uncle Shaq, want to say, listen to your father, listen to your mama, and always follow your dreams. Love is love, Chad. Yeah, you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Hey, give it up for the big Aristotle, the big Diesel. My graduates from my school being Forbes. Backdrop. Backdrop. F*** a mic drop. Backdrop. Backdrop.

55:24Before you sign off, you tuned in for ways to help teams move faster, make sharper decisions, and turn scattered context into work they can use. ChatGPT for Business can help. ChatGPT for Business gives teams a shared workspace with admin controls, permissions, and access to work and codecs in ChatGPT. This means your business can move from question to answer and code to rollout quicker. Join over 10 million business and enterprise users worldwide already using ChatGPT for work. Download the ChatGPT desktop app or contact sales to learn more. Earners, what's up? Look, building wealth isn't just about making money.

56:02It's about knowing where your money is working for you. That's why we partner with Empower. Empower is all about helping you invest well so you can go out and live a little. Their free Empower personal dashboard gives you a complete view of your financial life in one place. Track your net worth, monitor your budget, analyze your investments, set retirement goals, and more. You've worked hard for your money. Now make sure it's working hard for you. Download the Empower personal dashboard or visit Empower.com. Not an Empower client paid or sponsored. When traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters.

56:40We compare flights, prices, hotel rates, and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check lift before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day depending on traffic, weather, and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner, or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check lift could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money. Check lift. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. Every week, the news gets worse, the world gets crazier, and Yamanika is here to tell whoever's responsible, you're the problem.

57:15Do you know I just found out who Sidney Sweeney was? If he got a bunch of women, then I should have a bunch of men. Do better or do less so I don't have to do so much. I'm Yamanika and I'm out. Listen to You're the Problem with Yamanika on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.