Helping others will always drive Shaquille O’Neal. It’s central to the multi-millionaire’s new investment in the AI field. The big man strives to be the role model his young fans deserve. But there was a time he did something he wasn’t proud of. In true Shaq-fashion, he corrected the gaps in his knowledge. It formed the basis for his future investments and bettering lives.

His new investment is furthering literacy. The subject has always been at the heart of O’Neal’s philanthropy. It originates from his own humble and reckless beginnings which he narrated at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Shaquille O’Neal overturned his past mistakes with money

Promoting literacy and access to education is important to Shaquille O’Neal. The cause is close to the Los Angeles Lakers legend who revealed the sad statistic that 79% of pro-athletes go broke after their careers end. Lack of financial literacy and incomplete education are the primary reasons for it. At TechCrunch Disrupt, Shaq affirmed it’s for that reason his parents emphasized on education and why he does the same with his children.

He recalled, “It’s a great story about how I spent a million dollars in the first day because I didn’t have you know financial knowledge.”  Shaq moved from Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers with a huge pay bump. As soon as he arrived in LA, he spent his million-dollar paycheck on indulgences like two cars.

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“I had no idea what state income tax was. And I was looking on my report and I asked my guy, ‘Who the hell is FICA’ as they had took so much money from me.”

The longer version of the story is that O’Neal’s bank called him about the money he owes and then he had the epiphany to learn about financial literacy. Shaq had left LSU early for the NBA. So he had to learn from sources like, “The Dummies Guide to Starting Your Own Business.”

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O’Neal would eventually listen to his parents and go back to school. The Big Aristotle completed his bachelor’s in business from LSU and further did an MBA from the University of Phoenix’s virtual school in LA. He later earned an Ed.D from Barry University.

“Education is important,” as Shaq repeatedly stated throughout the event. It became the primary motivation behind why he partnered with Edsoma.

Shaquille O’Neal’s motivation behind edtech investment

Former rodeo pro Kyle Walgren, developed an AI-powered app to help children gain reading, literacy, and communication habits.

Both O’Neal and Walgren want to ensure their app could serve as a tool for remote-learning should circumstances arise again. “A lot of kids fell behind during COVID, and you know what Kyle has done is to definitely bring them back up to speed.”

Like Shaq, Kyle’s family was his inspiration to start Edsoma too. He approached Shaq not only as an investor, but also as a strategic partner.

Currently, the company is valued at over $14 million. With Shaq, Edsoma is hoping to make their app accessible at the university level and also as a language-learning tool. He’s ensuring the young fans who follow him don’t repeat his rookie mistakes.

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