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Shaq turned down Starbucks deal, thought 'black people didn't drink coffee'

Bob Donnan / Reuters

Shaquille O'Neal is a millionaire, but he could've been even wealthier had he avoided one business misstep.

In an interview with Yahoo's Graham Besinger, Shaq revealed that one of his biggest investment regrets was turning down an opportunity with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to launch stores in black communities.

Shaq turned down the deal because he thought black people didn't drink coffee.

"My agent calls me up and says Howard Schultz wants to do business with you," he said. "I’m like, 'Coffee? Ugh.' Because growing up in my household, I had never seen a black person drink coffee. So it was my thought process that black people didn’t drink coffee. ... In my house, it was always sweet tea or hot chocolate."

Where Shaq said no, Magic Johnson said yes. Johnson sold back his 105 Starbucks franchises in 2010 for an estimated $27 million.

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