When retired NBA player and entrepreneur Shaquille O’Neal decided to invest in Five Guys as a franchisee owner, he elected to take on an unexpected partner: a McDonald’s manager.
Franchising 101
”When I was playing here in Orlando, there was a guy at the McDonald’s,” O’Neal shared during an appearance at the Aspire Tour business development conference in Orlando last June. ”He was the manager, and he always took care of me. “Didn’t really have the cash to branch out. So I said OK, I already got the plan. I’m gonna take him, I will make him a partner, he’s gonna run it.”
O’Neal went on to own 155 locations of the Five Guys franchise with his partner managing the spaces.
Problem is at first Shaq had no idea how to run the Five Guys restaurants. In a video shared by entrepreneur Andrew Cordle during the Aspire Tour, Shaq recalled how he got into the burger business by chance.
“One day a guy came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, I’m starting this thing called Five Guys,’” Shaq said. “I was like, ‘What’s Five Guys?’ He’s like, ‘Burgers. I wanna offer you equity in the company, and I wanna give you franchises.’ So I say yes, but now I’m like, ‘I don’t know sh*t about burgers.’”
To fix that, Shaq turned to someone he trusted — a McDonald’s manager from his NBA days in Orlando who used to take care of him. “He didn’t really have the cash to branch out,” Shaq explained. “So I said okay… I’ll make him a partner. He’s gonna run it.” And he did.
In 2016, O’Neal decided to sell his franchises for an undisclosed amount.
“Met a guy one day who wanted to take it off my hands,” O’Neal shared. ”He showed me the number, and I looked at it and was like, you can have it all.”
O’Neal’s decision to sell his investment in Five Guys was two-fold. First, he did not want his brand to be synonymous with a single franchise. He also wanted a diverse portfolio of investments. Today, O’Neal has a reported net worth of $500 million and earns an estimated $60 million annually as a result of his franchises, endorsement deals and NBA pension.
A Look At O’Neal’s Business Portfolio
Today, O’Neal is not scared to take on business and is still looking for the talents of others to grow his empire.
Just two years after selling off his Five Guys locations, O’Neal co-founded Big Chicken, a chain known for its fried chicken sandwiches. At present, there are 34 locations throughout the United States, one in England and can also be found on Carnival Cruise Line.
His business portfolio also has included brands such as Papa John’s, Krispy Kreme and Auntie Anne’s. According to Sharpsheets, O’Neal owns nine Papa John’s locations in Atlanta and joined the company’s board in 2019. As a franchise owner and board director, O’Neal has been committed to helping the brand enhance its appeal, offering his likeness for the Shaq-a-Roni pizza.
O’Neal owned 17 Auntie Anne’s Pretzels franchises, located prominently in malls and airports, but he also sold those businesses. Finally, O’Neal owns an Atlanta-based Krispy Kreme, a brand he loves.
