As one of the most famous basketball player of all time Shaquille O’Neal has made a fortune from his long and successful sports career.
The NBA player is rumored to have a net worth of around $400 million following a 19-season career in the NBA.
But the 49-year-old father of six says where his kids are concerned they have to earn a share of his fortune, he’s not just going to hand it to them on a plate.
The New Jersey-born sports star has four children aged between 20 and 14 from his marriage to TV personality Shaunie O’Neal. He also has a son and a daughter from previous relationships.
Appearing on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, Shaq said: “My kids are older now. They kinda 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.”
“You’ve got to have Bachelor’s or Master’s [degrees] and then if you want me to invest in one of your companies, you’re going to have to present it… bring it to me, I’ll let you know. I’m not giving you nothing.”
He went on: “There’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 to own a hedge fund, a pharmacist, a lawyer, someone that owns multiple businesses, someone to take over my business. But I tell them I’m not going to hand it to you. You gotta earn it.”
As well as working as a sports analyst on the television program ‘Inside the NBA’ he’s also released four rap albums, starred in his own reality shows, ‘Shaq’s Big Challenge’ and ‘Shaq Vs,’ is a minority owner of basketball team Sacramento Kings, and is the general manager of Kings Guard Gaming of the NBA 2K League.
It’s not that he’s tight with his money, but Shaq has been caught out a number of times being more than generous with his cash, doing random acts of kindness for complete strangers.
In May this year he helped hand out 500 pairs of shoes to kids in Henry County, Georgia telling WSB-TV: “The two things that really hurt me this year were seeing people out of work and I hate seeing kids without what they need.”
Just one month before this generous deed Shaq was caught on camera paying for a stranger’s engagement ring while out shopping in a Zales jewelry store in McDonough, Georgia.
But when it comes to his kids he clearly wants them to understand the value of money.
He even hates being referred to as a celebrity telling the New York Post: “These celebrities are going freaking crazy and I don’t want to be one. I denounce my celebrity-ness today. I’m done with it.”
He went on: “All my life, everyone probably gets stereotyped, but us celebrities, we get stereotyped because most of these celebrities are out of their mind. I don’t do that. I’m a regular person that listened, followed his dreams and made it.”
“I came from nothing. But, just because I made it doesn’t mean I’m bigger than you, smarter than you – just because I have more money doesn’t mean I’m better than you. I’ve never been that way and I never will be that way. So I don’t want to be in that category of people.”
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