Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wanted to do business with Shaquille O’Neal, but the NBA legend declined because “black people don’t drink coffee.”
O’Neal said on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger” that his agent told him Schultz wanted to team up with the basketball star, but he declined the offer. Now, O’Neal calls it one of his “biggest business decisions.”
“I’m like, ‘coffee, eh,’” said O’Neal. “Because growing up in my household, I’d never seen a black person drink coffee. So it was my thought process that black people didn’t drink coffee.”
According to O’Neal, Schultz wanted to open franchises in predominantly black communities with O’Neal’s help.