Shaquille O'Neal has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by investors in the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The payment is about $1 million more than the $750,000 O'Neal would have been paid for his role in an FTX advertisement.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of FTX users who deposited funds between May 2019 and the end of 2022.
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by investors in the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to several media outlets this week.
Investors allege that O'Neal misled them by appearing in advertisements for the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. The payment is about $1 million more than the $750,000 O'Neal would have been paid for his role in an FTX advertisement.
The former basketball star was among several celebrities, including Tom Brady and Larry David, who were sued for promoting the exchange before its collapse in late 2022.
O'Neal maintained that he was simply a paid actor in the advertisement, claiming that after the stock market collapse, he was "just a paid spokesperson for an ad."
If the settlement is approved, O'Neal will be released from all future claims related to the lawsuit. He will not be allowed to seek reimbursement from the FTX bankruptcy estate and will not have to admit any wrongdoing, according to CNBC's report.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of FTX users who deposited funds between May 2019 and the end of 2022, prior to the dramatic failure of the company.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding clients and investors. His sentence could be reduced by more than four years.
