Shaq has already made millions in his career, but he could have made millions more.
Shaq opened up about a huge missed opportunity when he turned down a deal with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz during the opening episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger.
“So Howard comes and says, ‘Shaq, I wanna give you the opportunity to go in with me and open up these Starbucks franchises in African American communities,'” Shaq says during his interview with Bensinger. “And I’m always the guy that, if I don’t believe in it, I can’t do it. Will never do it. No amount of money can make me endorse something that I’m not 100 percent behind. So I looked in the great Howard Schultz’s face and said, ‘Black people don’t drink coffee, sir. I don’t think it’s gonna work.’ You should have seen his face. He was like…alright. We’re still good friends today, but that was one of my worst business decisions.”
It’s not that Shaq was ever hard up for money, considering he reportedly made almost $300 million while he was in the NBA. It’s just that he could have made even more.
This is one business blunder he’s not likely to forget any time soon.
The season premiere of In Depth with Graham Bensinger is this weekend, but in the meantime, you can watch the preview clip for Shaq’s episode below.l