NBA Hall of Famer and entrepreneur Shaquille O'Neal has never been shy about doing things his own way. Whether it was dominating on the basketball court or launching affordable sneakers at Walmart, Shaq’s path to wealth has often been unconventional. But one of his smartest moves started with him simply not wanting to overspend on a home security system.
From DIY To Big Payday
Shaq owns multiple homes in Atlanta and was once quoted $80,000 for a new security setup. Even though he’s a multimillionaire, Shaq still found the quote too expensive and decided it wasn't worth it. So he headed to Best Buy instead, picked up a Ring camera, and installed it himself. “The crazy thing about it is I hooked it up myself,” he told the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast in 2021.
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Not long after, he was in China when the camera app let him talk to someone at his front door back in Atlanta. That was the lightbulb moment. “I was like, damn, my people don’t know about this,” Shaq recalled.
He later tracked down the Ring booth at a tech conference and made a bold pitch: "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.'”
The CEO agreed. A few years later, Amazon, under Jeff Bezos‘ leadership, bought Ring for $1 billion. Shaq didn't say how much he made but confirmed he was in early.
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“Affordable Security That Really Works”
Shaq’s investment in Ring wasn't just about making money. He said it also fit his philosophy of investing in things that help people. “It's affordable security that really works,” he said on the podcast, adding that he likes to back products that regular people can actually use.
This wasn't his first smart investment, either. Back in 1999, his agent introduced him to legendary venture capitalist Ron Conway. During lunch at the Four Seasons, Conway pitched Shaq on a little company called Google. “We had a meeting with them and it looked good, and I put some money in and forgot about it,” Shaq said. That $250,000 investment turned into a massive payday.
Shaq’s early investing track record includes other big names too, like Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and Vitaminwater. With Lyft, he invested just a year after the company was founded. When it went public in 2019, it was valued at $22 billion.
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