Shaquille O’Neal Agrees to a $1.8 Million Settlement in FTX Class-Action Lawsuit

• Shaquille O’Neal settled for $1.8 million over allegations he misled investors by promoting FTX, including via his festival Shaq’s Fun House
• Unlike other celebrity endorsers such as Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, Shaq remained entangled in the case after months of dodging legal service
• The deal ends his involvement without admitting wrongdoing and bars him from reclaiming funds from the FTX estate

As the FTX saga continues, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to a $1.8 million settlement to resolve a lengthy class-action lawsuit over allegations that he promoted the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, according to a recent report. The retired basketball star faced accusations of misleading investors via different avenues.

Specifically, these included social media promotions and event sponsorships, some via his branded festival, Shaq’s Fun House, which was sponsored by FTX. The crypto exchange later collapsed and its founder/CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of fraud and money laundering charges.

A Months-Long Effort to Serve O’Neal with Legal Papers

Other celebrity defendants who endorsed FTX, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, and Stephen Curry, saw their cases eventually dismissed. However, O’Neal had dodged attempts to serve him legal papers for months in 2023, a tactic which ultimately resulted in his remaining the sole defendant in the matter.

The Moskowitz Law Firm, the legal platform representing the individuals and investors victimized by the FTX debacle, even posted a public plea to O’Neal to consider them. He was finally served a week after a Florida judge ruled out the possibility of serving him electronically.

As the law firm alleged at the time, O’Neal had been evading its attempts to serve the summons to him, reportedly hiding and driving away from the process servers. The lawyers had also claimed they tried to reach him through social media platforms.

FTX Saga Ends for Shaq

In 2024, Bankman-Fried reached an agreement with a group of investors and customers to drop claims against him in exchange for his cooperation against other defendants involved in multiple lawsuits, including O’Neal and Brady. Other FTX insiders have also agreed to settle and provide information.

With this, the focus shifted to celebrities, sports stars, and social media influencers who had allegedly promoted FTX as a safe and trustworthy platform and enticed investors into what is claimed to be a Ponzi scheme.

Now, before a Florida federal court, Shaquille O’Neal has made a deal to pay the agreed-upon $1.8 million and fully resolve the plaintiffs’ claims without having to admit wrongdoing. At the same time, he is banned from seeking any reimbursement from the FTX estate.

Even as Shaq’s chapter closes, the broader FTX saga continues. The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has filed to dismiss a $1.76 billion lawsuit from the FTX estate as legally baseless. As a reminder, the estate is accusing Binance of receiving billions in crypto during a 2021 buyback agreement, funded wrongfully using customer assets.