Ranchy 🍕

In 1998, a woman stopped Shaquille O’Neal outside an arena and told him his sneakers cost too much for kids. He took $2,000 out of his pocket and handed it to her. She slapped it out of his hand. That same day he walked away from a $40 million deal and went off to make a $20 shoe. He tells it himself in the video below. He was leaving the building. She started on him before he reached the car. “You’re charging these babies all this money for the shoes.” He had about $2,000 on him. He pulled it out. “Ma’am, I don’t make the prices. Here you go.” She slapped the money out of his hand and kept going. Why wouldn’t you make a shoe that’s affordable. On the table at that moment was a Reebok deal. Forty million over five years. “I thought about it. I was like, you know what, she’s right.” “So that day, cut ties with Reebok, starting my own brand.” He did not negotiate a payout. “I told them: keep the money. I don’t want to make it a fight. I’ll still wear the shoes during the season.” Then he went to Walmart. The new shoes were priced at $29 and $19. He also took Reebok’s designers with him. “It’s not that kids don’t want to wear 20 dollar shoes. They don’t want to wear shoes that look like they cost 20.” “I don’t care how much money I lose. Make these kids look good.” He says the line has now sold more than 400 million pairs. Twenty-three years after he walked out, the company he is part of bought Reebok. He gave up $40 million rather than keep selling a shoe a mother could not afford. Would you have taken the forty?