Shaquille O’Neal puts part of his legal drama behind him as he pays out $11m dollars in a settlement after being accused of misleading investors in what was an eight-figure class action lawsuit.
The NBA legend, who won four championships, was accused of being involved with the FTX scandal that swept up other names such as Tom Brady after Sam Bankman-Fried was later convicted of fraud.
Shaquille O’Neal shows his impressive ‘piano skills’ and shock fans with a Brian McKnight cover
He was also said to have done the same thing relating to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which went viral in 2022 to much controversy, as he was further accused of causing damage to investors through the Astrals chain.
The $11m dollar settlement will go to those who lost money as part of the NFT and GLXY tokens, which will reportedly bring all claims against O’Neal to an end as part of a condition to receive the money.
“So much credit goes to Shaq personally,” Adam Moskowitz, plaintiff attorney, said via Law.com. “For wanting to help all of the other victims, and to our federal judges. Mr. O’Neal was asked to promote both Astrals and the failed FTX platform.”
O’Neal currently refuses to comment and has rarely addressed the scandal to the public after being brought on board as an endorser, with his name and personality being deployed as a marketing tool by FTX and Astrals.
Legal drama not 100% over
Only part of the lawsuit dismissal was approved by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, however, meaning that he is not quite out of the woods yet as the suit says he is also a “control person”.
The court has identified him as a “seller” at most but he also had to defend himself as a promoter and so his freedom from the legal case is pending judicial approval, although it’s unclear when that will happen.
