Shaquille O’Neal is making more money with his fast-food chicken chain than he did while in the NBA.

NBA Career

The center was drafted to the league in the first round as the first overall pick in 1992. He started out playing for the Orlando Magic and spent the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, leading to three consecutive national championship rings. In total, he won four, per StatMuse.

He retired in 2011 with $286.3 million in career earnings, with $30 million earned annually at his peak, according to Entrepreneur.

Business Moves After The League

O’Neal’s earnings have only soared after his exit from the league through a slew of strategic decisions that have paid off, including serving as the second-largest shareholder of Authentic Brand Group; having his own investment portfolio, which includes Google; accumulating endorsement deals such as with The General and The Hershey Co.; and a business empire with an affordable shoe line that has sold more than 470 million pairs of shoes.

Big Chicken

Shaq also has an impressive restaurant portfolio that once included 155 Five Guys restaurants and 17 Auntie Anne’s Pretzels locations, and currently nine Papa John’s in Atlanta and one Krispy Kreme, Entrepreneur mentioned.

In 2018, Big Chicken was added to the mix. It is a fast-casual chicken chain that has become one of the fastest-growing franchises in the U.S., thanks to more than 350 locations in development, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The chain can be found in Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, Maryland, and, most recently, in Canada.

Big Chicken is also on the brink of finalizing a $10 million capital raise led by Branded Hospitality Ventures that will support international expansion, according to QSR Magazine.

“As a 6-year-old company, issues will come up,” said Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken, per the outlet. “But as long as we have the right village of people all communicating together and working together to smooth out the bumps so that we can grow fast, we can be in a great position to win, and that’s really why we’re raising this capital.”

Making More Than During Time In The League

The venture is faring well and is a contributing factor to O’Neal now earning more than $95 million annually. Entrepreneur reports that this figure is based on his business portfolio and endorsements.