Michigan State Basketball: Mat Ishbia one of world’s richest people

Twenty years after winning the national title with Michigan State basketball, former walk-on Mat Ishbia is one of the world’s richest people.

Twenty years ago, Mat Ishbia took the final shot in the national championship game against Florida (a miss) and celebrated winning it all with his Michigan State teammates, 89-76.

Fast forward to 2013 and he took over as CEO of United Shore, accelerating the company ever since and now it’s ready to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in a deal worth roughly $16 billion, he’s about to be one of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes.

In fact, he’s set to take in about 70 percent of the company’s stake in the deal which would make Ishbia worth roughly $11.3 billion. This also means that Ishbia would rank about 113th among the world’s richest people. What a ride it’s been from national champion to billionaire, but he’s proof that there’s always life after basketball.

Sure, Mat was a walk-on and pro basketball wasn’t exactly in his future, but he is one of the best success stories to ever come through Michigan State athletics. He joins the likes of Le’Veon Bell, Jack Conklin and Kirk Cousins as guys who went from MSU athletes to some of the richest in their fields.

According to that Forbes article, Ishbia is now worth more than Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Michael Jordan combined.

Who would have thought that the lightly-utilized walk-on would be more successful than most of the world’s population as one of the richest out there, worth $11.3 billion? Definitely not me, but this just goes to show Michigan State breeds success.