Shaquille O’Neal reveals Jeff Bezos's investing principle that he still uses today

NBA fable Shaquille O'Neal shared an concern rule helium heard from Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos, which helium says has inspired his attack ever since.

"I was astatine a tech league successful Vegas and I heard the large Jeff Bezos accidental 'If you put successful things, it's going to alteration people's lives,' you volition decidedly get a bully return," helium recalled, speaking CNBC's Hadley Gamble successful Abu Dhabi Sunday.

O'Neal added his ain 10 cents: "Never deliberation astir the monetary facet ... it's not important to me."

"It's fundamentally based disconnected 1 rule — belief. [Do] you judge successful the product? Is it gonna alteration people's lives? ... That's what it is astir for me," helium added.

Since retiring from his 19-year hoops vocation successful 2011, O'Neal has seen occurrence disconnected the court.

The 50-year-old was an aboriginal capitalist successful Google and has since accumulated a divers portfolio, including investments successful Apple, owning 17 Auntie Anne's, 40 gyms and implicit a 100 Five Guys restaurants. He besides founded his ain accelerated nutrient concatenation Big Chicken.

Just past week, the NBA Hall-Of-Famer said his investing inspiration had "scared" him distant from his plans to marque a bid for the ownership of the Phoenix Suns.

"You can't vie with Jeff Bezos. I was precise interested. My radical was precise interested," helium said.

Bezos is 1 of aggregate billionaires reportedly considering a bid for the Suns, according to ESPN.

The Suns franchise is presently worthy $1.8 cardinal and could merchantability for astatine slightest $2.5 billion, according to a Forbes report.

When asked astir what concern projects pique the involvement of the basketballer-turned-investor, O'Neal admitted that helium gets "a batch of things connected [his] table each day."

"Everybody wants a portion of you … And astir of it we crook down," helium said. 

However, O'Neal added that the determination to inject funds usually goes done erstwhile the bulk of his concern sheet greenlights an idea.

"You spell to the sheet first. If it goes to the sheet and 4 retired of 5 radical similar it, we bash it," helium said, emphasizing again that helium does not fto the monetary facet of things unreality his decisions.

The quality betwixt China and the hoops league sparked successful 2019, erstwhile past Houston Rockets enforcement Daryl Morey shared an representation successful enactment of pro-democracy protesters successful Hong Kong. The station led to games being pulled disconnected air, and Chinese companies withdrawing sponsorship from the league.

"I cognize successful China, they truly emotion basketball," O'Neal said.

"And I besides cognize for a information that, contempt what's going connected successful the world, there's 2 things that volition ever calm radical down — sports and music."