Shaquille O’Neal Reaches Settlement in Lawsuit Over Promoting Defunct Crypto Exchange FTX

Jun 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; NBA analyst and former player Shaquille O'Neal speaks before the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics during game two of the 2022 NBA Finals at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has reached a settlement in a lawsuit alleging he “actively participated” in FTX’s offer and sale of unregistered securities before the firm collapsed in 2022. This comes after O’Neal featured in an advertisement in which he claimed he was “all in” on the exchange, despite later claiming that he didn’t understand crypto.

According to an April 23 filing in the Southern District of Florida, the plaintiffs and O’Neal have reached a proposed settlement and will soon submit a formal request for the court’s approval. The filing asks for the terms of the settlement to remain confidential. O’Neal isn’t the only celebrity to be tied up in legal battles following FTX’s demise. NFL quarterback and icon Tom Brady, tennis star Naomi Osaka, and Shark Tank personality Kevin O’Leary were all implicated, too. In 2023, NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence and YouTubers Tom Nash and Kevin Paffrath agreed to undisclosed settlements.

Meanwhile, O’Neal was said to be “running” from lawyers—that’s according to attorneys at the Moskowitz Law Firm who said they had difficulty serving papers to the NBA legend. The firm said that it had made multiple attempts to serve O’Neal, including waiting outside TNT studios in Atlanta for a week in the hopes of hand-delivering the complaint.

In a 2023 court filing, submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware by FTX’s current management, the exchange disclosed a list of celebrities, businesses, and sports teams that had received payments for its marketing efforts. This is where it was revealed that O’Neal had been paid close to $750,000 for his advertisement. FTX had also signed a 19-year sponsorship deal with the NBA’s Miami Heat for $135 million. The deal included renaming the team’s stadium the FTX Arena. It was later changed to the Kaseya Center following the exchange’s collapse.

This isn’t O’Neal’s first crypto-related settlement. In 2024, the former basketball player agreed to a settlement in relation to his Astrals NFT project. The lawsuit claimed that O’Neal actively promoted the Astral NFT project before abandoning it in 2022. A Florida federal judge said that the NBA legend could plausibly be considered the “seller” of the asset under securities law. As a result, O’Neal and associated Astrals entities agreed to a settlement of $11 million in monetary relief.

Terron Gold