7 ft Shaquille O'Neal explains why he let a certain company acquire the rights to his likeness
Mia Horton Shaquille O’Neal is a wealthy man.
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The former Lakers and Heat superstar accumulated a healthy chunk of money during his NBA career. Shaq’s legendary career spanned close to two decades and was celebrated by the Naismith memorial NBA Hall of Fame too.
O’Neal broke into the NBA scene as a consensus #1 pick. Superman then backed all that hype surrounding him and became the player everyone expected he would be.
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Also read: 7’0 Shaquille O’Neal used his $400 million fortune to set a ‘world record’ in his bedroom
Post-retirement, the highlight of Shaq’s career has been his career with TNT. A supremely likeable figure, O’Neal has been absolutely killing it in his media career so far.
With a successful career spanning two key facets of the NBA, Shaq became a real household name. The man with many nicknames was now a multi-million brand.
In the end of it all, trust is another means to measure one’s wealth. Turns out Shaquille O’Neal is a very wealthy man in that sphere of things too.
Shaquille O’Neal has built various business relationships that are fiduciary in nature. Shaq had gathered a reputation as a smart businessman too, and one such move saw him make a financial move that had a major impact on his finances.
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Superman sold the rights to his name and likeness to a company.
Why did Shaq sell the rights to use his name and likeness to a company?
Shaq sold the rights to use of his name and likeness to Authentic Brands Group in 2015. Today, O’Neal is the second largest shareholder in this star brand management agency.
O’Neal, one of the most valuable athletes in the world, by providing his own rights, proved to ABG his interest in their services. Shaq’s investment was his trust, practically, and he is incurring dividends in millions now.
ABG’s portfolio currently includes names such as Muhammed Ali, David Beckham, and Dr. J among others. Shaq’s investment in the company was definitely a “big brain” moment from the big man.
Intellectual property is clearly an extremely valuable asset. To identify and maximize the freedom of commercial exploitation it provides was a masterstroke by Superman.
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