Shannon Sharpe’s media profile has grown almost as big as his personal fortune made in a Hall of Fame NFL playing career.
These days Sharpe can be found alongside Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson delivering hot takes on everything from the NFL and NBA to the WNBA – plus a whole lot more besides.
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The former NFL tight end has made his mark in the media world with his ‘Nightcap’ podcast alongside Johnson regularly pulling in more than 50,000 viewers and the channel has 1.8million subscribers.
That is part of his own media company, Shay Shay media, which also features the Club Shay Shay podcast – part of Colin Cowherd’s The Volume stable and with 4 million subscribes of it’s own on YouTube.
Having earned $22.3 million during his Hall of Fame NFL career, Sharpe had been in talks over a new $100m media deal to remain at ESPN, but in April he stepped back from his duties with the network.
Sharpe is being sued by a woman for $50 million, alleging sexual assault, harassment, and battery.
He vehemently denies the allegations, and released a statement through his attorney on X denying anything nonconsensual happening between him and a woman identified as Jane Doe.
Up until April he had also been a regular across the network having left Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed in 2023 where he built his media profile over a near 10-year run alongside Skip Bayless.
On a recent episode, Sharpe used his Shay-Shay podcast to deliver a story of missed opportunity in conversation with billionaire and former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
Had he trusted his instincts and invested in Google many years ago, a $300,000 investment could have yielded billions.
“I remember when Google came out and they thought the shares were going to open up at about $85 a share,” he said.
“And I remember saying to my financial guys, ‘you know what, I’ve just signed with the Ravens, I have some money, man I’d like to buy $300,000 worth [of Google shares].
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“Well, it opens up at $115 [a share], and my guy says, ‘it’s overpriced!’
“That motherf*****!”Cuban and Sharpe burst into laughter as the former Shark Tank investor joked he wasn’t the only person to make that mistake.
“It’s [Google] worth over $3 trillion now,” Cuban pointed out to a crestfallen Sharpe.
“$3 trillion!,” he reiterated as Sharpe shook his head.”I’d have been a billionaire with you!” Sharpe exclaimed.
“You f***** up,” Cuban joked, to which Sharpe agreed.
“I did, I f***** up bad! I had the money to do it but I let somebody talk me out of it.”
Sharpe is best known as a Hall of Fame tight end who won three Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens, and has a reported net worth of $14 million – some way short of what a Google windfall would have delivered.
While he may live to regret the decision, 56-year-old Sharpe did more than OK thanks to his pro football career.
He was was selected to eight Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pros during his career and is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history.
He eventually retired and moved into sports media where he made a name for himself on Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed alongside Skip Bayless, which he co-hosted between 2016-2023.
Now he regularly features on First Take alongside Stephen A.Smith as well as his own shows, and says he hopes to be back offering his opinion in time for the new season.
“At this junction I am eliciting to step aside temporarily from my ESPN duties,” Sharpe said in April when announcing his decision.
“I will be devoting my time to my family, and responding and dealing with these false and disruptive allegations set against me. I plan to return to ESPN at the start of the NFL preseason.”
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NFL teams return to training camp in mid-July with the season underway in September when the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles take on NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys on September 4.
Cuban, meanwhile, co-founded video portal Broadcast.com in 1995 and sold it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999.
He also launched Cost Plus Drugs in 2022 with the aim of lowering prescription drug prices.
The billionaire businessman joined popular reality series ‘Shark Tank’ in its second season in 2011.
He announced his decision to leave the show last year, but still has an estimated net worth of $5.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Cuban initially paid $285 million to acquire the Mavericks. However, he is no longer the majority owner after selling 73 percent of the franchise to Miriam Adelson for $3.5 billion in late 2023.
That means he made around 12 times what he initially paid for the team nearly 25 years ago.
Despite selling his majority in the team, Cuban still serves as the alternate governor for Dallas.
He retains a 27 percent stake in the franchise and is still in control of basketball operations.
Crucially, though, he is no longer the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations – that would be Nico Harrison, who angered fans when trading away franchise superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Harrison felt the wrath of Mavs fans for the move, which saw Dallas acquire Anthony Davis as well as a host of draft picks.
Lakers fans could not hide their delight, chanting ‘Thank you Nico’ when Doncic played against the Mavericks for the first time in February.
Dallas used their own first round selection on generational talent Cooper Flagg after the NBA Draft saw them end up with the first overall pick via the lottery.
