Shaquille O'Neal was taught crucial business lesson by Jeff Bezos that changed his financial trajectory

A lot of professional athletes tend to rest on their laurels once their playing careers come to an end. As is their right, after so many years of putting in such hard work, many use the money they earned throughout their careers and do whatever pleases them in retirement.

Shaquille O'Neal is built different, though - quite literally. The legendary NBA center has remained in the public eye through Hollywood entertainment appearances, as well as his analyst role on NBA broadcasts throughout the season . That should take up enough of O'Neal's time, but Shaq does much more than just that. He's also an avid businessman .

The list of business ventures that Shaq has launched or joined runs very long. He has cast a wide net: From Papa John's to Icy Hot to car washes . Those ventures have helped him build up what is estimated to be a net worth between $400 million and $500 million .

Shaq took Jeff Bezos' advice of investing in companies that could change lives

While it seems that these business ventures come second-nature to Shaq, that hasn't always been the case. In fact, when he first started out, he admitted that he made a lot of bad investments . But a quote from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos changed Shaq's way of thinking, and set him on the right path.

At that point I was investing in ghetto shit and crazy shit and was losing. I was trying to get rich quick. When [Bezos] said 'you invest in things that's going to change people's lives', Ring was one of the first ones I came across. I was like, this is definitely going to change people's lives.

O'Neal has also revealed that after his mindset shift, he believes he quadrupled his net worth . Bezos played a central role in changing Shaq's financial fortunes.