Shaquille O'Neal has spent most of his life being the rich one in the room.
During an appearance on the "It's Giving" podcast with host Sarah Fontenot in March 2025, O'Neal walked through the scenario step by step. First came the practical question.
If his partner were worth $100 billion and asked him to pay the mortgage, would he do it?
"Of course," O'Neal said.
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"We're married, we do stuff together," he said.
But Fontenot pushed the hypothetical further. What if the billionaire partner wanted to cover all the bills and treat his income as fun money instead?
O'Neal said he could accept that.
"Yes I could," he said. "Yeah, for a change… thank you."
The basketball legend has spent most of his career being the one who pays for everything. In that scenario, he joked, it might be nice to sit back and say thank you for once.
Why Shaq says there can't be two kings
Later in the conversation, the topic shifted from money to power dynamics inside relationships.
O'Neal said he cannot be with a woman who approaches the relationship in a masculine way because of how he sees his role in the household.
"I'm the king," he said. "Can't be two kings."
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Fontenot challenged that idea directly. If he is willing to date a woman worth hundreds of billions of dollars, she suggested, that could easily change the balance.
O'Neal disagreed.
"If I marry a girl worth $200 billion, that's okay," he said. "Just because you make more money doesn't make you masculine."
In his view, income and authority inside a relationship are not the same thing.
Even if his partner earned more money, he said that would not change the dynamic he believes works inside a household.
He would still see himself as the king of the home.
The lesson Shaq says he learned from his marriage
The conversation also turned reflective when Fontenot mentioned past comments from his ex-wife, Shaunie O'Neal.
Instead of pushing back, Shaq agreed with the criticism.
"I wouldn't have loved me either," he said.
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Looking back, he believes he failed to meet the responsibilities he now considers essential in a relationship.
"I was failing a man's job," he said. "A man has three jobs with a woman: protect, provide and love. At that point in my life I failed her in all three areas."
Those experiences, he said, forced him to reevaluate how he approaches relationships and criticism.
The billionaire hypothetical may have started as a joke. But by the end of the discussion, O'Neal's message was clear.
Money may shift who pays the bills.
But in Shaq's view, it does not change the role he believes he holds at home.
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