Some years in the past, celebrity Shaquille O’Neal walked away from a $40 million shoe take care of Reebok. Right now, the inexpensive shoe line he developed as an alternative sells roughly 1,000,000 sneakers a month.
In line with The Sports activities Rush, O’Neal shared on the “Full Ship” podcast that he left Reebok in 1998 after he realized the expense of his branded sneakers for followers. He stated a mom approached him upset as a result of she stated his youthful followers didn’t have the cash to buy the sneakers endorsed by the basketball large.
What’s extra, on the time, Shaq, who was 26 years of age, opened his pockets and gave the mom $2,000. He additionally made the choice to take his skills to Walmart to begin making his personal sneakers that have been inexpensive.
“That day, I reduce ties with Reebok,” he stated on the podcast, in line with Footwear Information. “I stated preserve the cash… this ain’t proper. I’ll nonetheless put on the sneakers I do in the course of the season, however I’ll be seeking to do my very own factor. So, I began the Shaq model. I went to my favourite retailer, Walmart, and we did a deal.”
What’s extra, Shaq opened up in regards to the success of the shoe.
In the course of the 2021 interview, Shaq revealed that he had bought 400 million pairs of sneakers since launching his personal model, and that quantity continues to rise as they’re nonetheless accessible for buy at Walmart. He lately took to Instagram to point out off the large manufacturing facility the place the magic occurs.
“I used to be in all shops and my worth level for the sneakers have been $29-$19, and since then we bought over 400 million pairs,” he recalled. “It’s not that youngsters don’t wish to put on $20 sneakers. They don’t wish to put on sneakers that seem like they price $20.”
Right now, stories verify that Shaq is the second-largest particular person to personal shares in Genuine Model Group, which owns JCPenney, Without end 21, and, satirically, Reebok.
Whereas he could promote a hefty million sneakers per thirty days, O’Neal is not any stranger to utilizing the fortune he’s amassed to assist others.
As beforehand reported by AfroTech, Shaq has carried out every thing from paying for laptops for one mom’s youngsters to placing his personal dad and mom on wage as soon as he made it to the NBA. Moreover, he as soon as even paid for 15 of his mates to go to highschool to earn their grasp’s levels.