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Most people hear “half empty” and think of negativity. Shaquille O’Neal hears unfinished business.
On the “Glass Half Full” podcast with Craig Melvin in March, Melvin asked, “Are you a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person?”
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Powered by Money.com – Yahoo may earn commission from the links above.“Half empty,” O’Neal said. “Because there’s always work to do.”
It’s a short answer, but it explains how he’s approached money long after basketball.
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O’Neal tied that mindset to a shift that started when he was young. After getting into trouble, his father told him, “Be a leader, not a follower.” He said he made a decision to change direction that same day. Another line stayed with him. “Don’t mess up your mother’s house.” He said, “I didn’t mess up my mother’s house. Never did.”
That idea shows up in his finances. The base gets protected first.
O’Neal spoke openly about earnings outside the NBA, including film roles that added to his income early. “‘Blended,’ thank you, Adam Sandler. Three million [dollars],” he said. “‘Blue Steel’ was about 6 million. And ‘Kazaam’ was about 9 million.” He added, “I paid myself,” referring to his role as a producer.
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The approach is straightforward. Each opportunity needed to generate income, not just attention.
The episode also touched on his hands-on approach to endorsements and product work. O’Neal described maintaining creative control over commercials from the start and personally taste-testing products like his Shaqalicious Gummies with his crew until they got it right. He draws firm lines on deals that don’t align with family values, such as refusing cannabis endorsements: “No, I don’t do weed.”
O’Neal addressed the cost of past personal mistakes, acknowledging, “I wasn’t always the perfect guy in my relationship and in my marriage… I’ve paid the price for it.” He stressed protecting “this thing of ours”—family name and reputation—over individual fame.
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O’Neal laid out his priorities without hesitation. “My mother’s house. It’s number one,” he said on the podcast. “My children, my crew, and then my toys.” The structure keeps spending aligned with responsibility.
He applies that same mindset to his children. He tells them “we’re not rich” and requires education and business plans before supporting their ideas.
O’Neal also addressed personal mistakes and the cost tied to them, connecting those experiences to accountability. He continues to focus on business and charitable work while keeping his attention on improvement. “Continue to inspire people, continue to learn about myself and continue to do excellent business,” he said.
Shaquille O’Neal’s approach to money reflects a broader reality of wealth: success doesn’t remove the need for structure, it simply increases it. As income grows and financial lives become more complex, many people find that the challenge shifts from earning money to managing it with intention.
That’s why some individuals choose to bring in an outside perspective when organizing their finances. AdviserMatch connects users with vetted financial advisors for a complimentary consultation to discuss long-term planning, budgeting, and overall financial strategy.
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Rad AI
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Connect Invest
Connect Invest is a real estate investment platform that allows investors to access short-term, fixed-income opportunities backed by a diversified portfolio of residential and commercial real estate loans. Through its Short Notes structure, investors can choose defined terms (6, 12, or 24 months) and earn monthly interest payments while gaining exposure to real estate as an asset class. For investors focused on diversification, Connect Invest may serve as one component within a broader portfolio that also includes traditional equities, fixed income, and other alternative assets—helping balance exposure across different risk and return profiles.
Mode Mobile
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rHealth
rHealth is building a space-tested diagnostics platform designed to bring lab-quality blood testing closer to patients in minutes rather than weeks. Originally validated in collaboration with NASA for use aboard the International Space Station, the technology is now being adapted for at-home and point-of-care settings to address widespread delays in diagnostic access.
Backed by institutions including NASA and the NIH, rHealth is targeting the large global diagnostics market with a multi-test platform and a model built around devices, consumables, and software. With FDA registration in progress, the company is positioning itself as a potential shift toward faster, more decentralized healthcare testing.
Direxion
Direxion specializes in leveraged and inverse ETFs designed to help active traders express short-term market views during periods of volatility and major market events. Rather than long-term investing, these products are built for tactical use—allowing investors to take magnified bullish or bearish positions across indices, sectors, and single stocks. For experienced traders, Direxion offers a way to respond quickly to changing market conditions and act on high-conviction views with greater flexibility.
Immersed
Immersed is a spatial computing company building immersive productivity software that enables users to work across multiple virtual screens inside VR and mixed-reality environments. Its platform is used by remote workers and enterprises to create virtual workspaces that reduce reliance on traditional physical hardware while improving focus and collaboration. The company is also developing its own lightweight VR headset and AI productivity tools, positioning itself in the future-of-work and spatial computing space. Through its pre-IPO offering, Immersed is opening access to early-stage investors looking to diversify beyond traditional assets and gain exposure to emerging technologies shaping how people work.
Arrived
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Masterworks
Masterworks enables investors to diversify into blue-chip art, an alternative asset class with historically low correlation to stocks and bonds. Through fractional ownership of museum-quality works by artists like Banksy, Basquiat, and Picasso, investors gain access without the high costs or complexities of owning art outright. With hundreds of offerings and strong historical exits on select works, Masterworks adds a scarce, globally traded asset to portfolios seeking long-term diversification.
Finance Advisors
Finance Advisors helps Americans approach retirement with greater clarity by connecting them to vetted, fiduciary financial advisors who specialize in tax-aware retirement planning. Rather than focusing on products or investment performance alone, the platform emphasizes strategies that account for after-tax income, withdrawal sequencing, and long-term tax efficiency—factors that can materially impact retirement outcomes. Free to use, Finance Advisors gives individuals with meaningful savings access to a level of planning sophistication historically reserved for high-net-worth households, helping reduce hidden tax risk and improve long-term financial confidence.
Bam Capital
BAM Capital offers accredited investors a way to diversify beyond public markets through institutional-grade multifamily real estate. With over $1.85 billion in completed transactions and guidance from Senior Economic Advisor Tony Landa, the firm targets income and long-term growth as supply tightens and renter demand remains strong—especially in Midwest markets. Its income-focused and growth-oriented funds provide exposure to real assets designed to be less tied to stock market volatility.
Public
Public is a multi-asset investing platform built for long-term investors who want more control, transparency, and innovation in how they grow wealth. Founded in 2019 as the first broker-dealer to offer commission-free, real-time fractional investing, Public now lets users invest in stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more—all in one place. Its latest feature, Generated Assets, uses AI to turn a single idea into a fully customized, investable index that can be explained and backtested before committing capital. Combined with AI-powered research tools, clear explanations of market moves, and an uncapped 1% match for transferring an existing portfolio, Public positions itself as a modern platform designed to help serious investors make more informed decisions with context.
AdviserMatch
AdviserMatch is a free online tool that helps individuals connect with financial advisors based on their goals, financial situation, and investment needs. Instead of spending hours researching advisors on your own, the platform asks a few quick questions and matches you with professionals who can assist with areas like retirement planning, investment strategy, and overall financial guidance. Consultations are no-obligation, and services vary by advisor, giving investors a chance to explore whether professional advice could help improve their long-term financial plan.
EnergyX
EnergyX is a lithium extraction company focused on making production faster and more efficient with its LiTAS® technology, which can recover over 90% of lithium in just days instead of months. Backed by General Motors and a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, the company controls extensive lithium acreage in Chile and the U.S. and is working to scale one of the largest lithium production facilities. Its goal is to help meet the rapidly growing global demand for lithium, a key resource for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and large-scale energy storage.
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