Famous missed business opportunities

Missing out on something you wanted can be really frustrating, but imagine missing out on something you originally had a part in but voluntarily gave up.

This is exactly what's happened to a number of famous faces. Who would have thought a humble tech company would become the giant it is today? Did people really believed coffee houses would be such a phenomenon in the beginning? And who thought a teenage wizard would become such a sensation?

These are just a few of the most famous missed business opportunities to date. Take a look at the followings stories to find out who missed out on what!

Famous missed business opportunities Ronald Wayne Apple

Ronald G. Wayne - Apple

Wayne was the third co-founded of tech giant Apple alongside the late Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. It was just two weeks after Apple launched that Wayne sold his 10% stake in the company for a tiny $800 .

"You make your decision based on your understanding of the circumstances and you live with it."

The harsh truth of the matter is that if he'd had kept hold of his share of the company and sold it today, it would probably be worth around $40 billion.

Shaquille O'Neal - Starbucks

You might think that professional basketball and coffee don't go hand in hand, but that's not what coffee house Starbucks thought. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reached out to the seven foot tall sporting legend, giving him the opportunity to invest in what is now the largest coffee house chain in the world.

Shaq was less keen on the idea however, he declined the offer saying: "Black people don't drink coffee so I don't think it's going to work."

He now claims it was one of the worst business decisions of his life.

Famous missed business opportunities Harry Potter

UK publishing - Harry Potter

The first agent J.K Rowling sent the Harry Potter manuscripts to rejected her in little more than a day, which begs the question, how fast can they read?!

Christopher Little was the second agent to receive the famous books and he decided to take on the wizarding empire. It wasn't all that easy to persuade the UK publishing industry that this teen wizard would be a hit with the public. Little and Rowling were rejected by 12 publishers before they were finally accepted by Bloomsbury a year later.

We bet they're all kicking themselves now, especially given that Rowling now has a net worth of around $1 billion and the Harry Potter franchise is estimated to be worth around $15 billion.