It was an evening full of vitality and movie star at UFC 314, the place Shaquille O’Neal confirmed up in fashion alongside Dana White, Joe Rogan, Dave Portnoy, and even President Donald Trump. However whereas the cameras caught the grins and handshakes, an off-camera alternate between Shaq and Portnoy could have revealed one thing a bit extra severe.
In response to Portnoy, the dialog took a flip towards cash-specifically losses within the inventory market.“Shaq was like, ‘You did not actually lose 7 million within the inventory market, did you?'”Portnoy recounted. “And I used to be considering… he is in all probability misplaced far more than I did.”
Shaquille O’Neal playfully warns two younger Celtics followers that have been yelling in his ear about Boston
That transient comment has now fueled hypothesis that the Lakers legend could have taken successful amid the continued financial shake-up pushed by skyrocketing tariffs. With the U.S. imposing 145% tariffs on Chinese language items, over $6 trillion in market worth vanished in simply two days, in line with CNBC.
Did Shaq’s big-name investments simply take a big-time hit?
O’Neal has lengthy been identified for good investments in tech giants like Apple and Google. However with Apple dropping 8.8%-largely attributable to its heavy China manufacturing base-he could also be feeling that dip personally. The sportswear sector is not serving to both. Lululemon is down 10%, and Nike-leader of the pack-is down 12%. That spells hassle for Reebok, the place Shaq is President of Basketball.
Then there’s JCPenney. As a key participant in Genuine Manufacturers Group, Shaq has a stake within the struggling retail big, which just lately introduced extra retailer closures regardless of years of tried restoration.
Whereas Shaq’s public picture is as robust as ever, the monetary undercurrent tells a extra sophisticated story. And if Portnoy’s instincts are proper, the Huge Diesel could also be quietly driving out a severe market droop.
