Shaquille O’Neal might be one of the wisest athletes in America in terms of managing his wealth. But money management wasn’t Shaq’s strong suit at the beginning of his career. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show , the big man was requested by the host to talk about his million-dollar shopping spree.
Yes, Shaq spent a million dollars within hours. The only positive thing to come out of it is that he learned his lesson from it. The four-time NBA Champion said that he had received a million-dollar check from his rookie deal and his first thought was to get the car he always wanted.
With a young millionaire’s enthusiasm, he went to a car dealership. He bought a $150k Benz and calculated the remaining sum in the back of his head. When he came home with the luxury car, his father said, “Man, I wish I had one of these.
” Something similar was said by his mother as well, so he ended up buying two more cars. At this point, Shaq’s remaining balance was around $600k, according to his calculations. He was still rich.
Then he went on to buy jewelry and expensive suits, but the final straw was a luxury apartment he rented in San Antonio. Shaq said , “I rented this high-rise apartment in San Antonio for a year. I don’t even know why I did it for a year, I wasn’t even staying there.
$70,000 a month, I just paid it all upfront. Then a couple of days later, the bank manager called me.” The big fella was in for a rude awakening.
The bank manager informed him about .
