Before he knew how to manage his money, NBA great Shaquille O’Neal used to spend loads of it at once. He is famously known for spending $9 million in just one day. But he came from a humble background where his mother, who raised him herself till he was two-years-old, and step-father worked hard for their kids. And his mom Lucille even used to work without sick leaves.

Today Shaq is one of the wealthiest players in NBA history. But back when he got his first check for a large sum of money, Shaq blew it all in a hurry. He once purchased three Mercedes Benz cars in just one day. And that is not even the most Shaq has spent in a day.

So when Shaq joined the Los Angeles Lakers, he signed a deal with them for $120 million for seven years. That would come up to an average of around $20 million a year. And seeing such a large sum of money, Shaq went nuts.

Shaquille O’Neal gives gratitude to his mom who worked really hard to make $40,000 a year

So Shaq went to Los Angeles and looked for a house first, and when he found one he liked, he paid for it in cash. Then he bought three Rolls Royce cars in cash as well. And that alone costed him a cool million.

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And seeing Shaq spend so much, his accountant got worried and called him up, saying he spent his entire year’s salary. Shaq replied that he had just spent half of it. What Shaq forgot to calculate was the tax he was supposed to pay. And Shaq was pissed with himself.

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Shaquille O’Neal has huge gratitude towards his mom as she worked day and night and did not complain one bit about anything. Shaq said, “You know, women wake up, iron all our clothes, cook a hell of a breakfast, get us ready, drop us off at school, go to work, come home, take a 30 min tea break, prepare dinner and never complain. Never take a sick day.” 

“So I just wanted to be able to say, one day you don’t work anymore. How much you make? $40,000. Here is $400,000 for you, tax-free. I love you. Just wanted to be able to do that. And I’ve done that, and more,” he added.

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Eventually, Shaq learned how to manage his money and he started investing for the future. And those paid huge dividends as now Shaq has a net worth in excess of $400 million. And he made sure to take care of his mom and his family today.