The Emmy Award-winning show Shark Tank has helped scores of entrepreneurs launch their businesses. Since 2009, audiences have loved watching contestants pitch their ideas to a tough panel of investors (a.k.a. the “sharks”), all of whom have had their own big-time commercial successes. But just how rich are the cast members of this cutthroat reality show? Here’s an inside look at their lucrative business ventures and impressive net worth.
Kevin O’Leary
(ABC)
Born in Montreal, Kevin O’Leary is a 66-year-old Canadian businessman with a reported new worth of $400 million. He was the co-founder of a company called Softkey Software Products, a technology company that sold family education and entertainment software. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Softkey acquired a number of its highly successful competitor companies, including The Learning Company. In 1999, after changing its name to The Learning Company, Softkey was bought by toymaking giant Mattel, effectively making O’Leary a multimillionaire.
Since the sale of Softkey, O’Leary has been involved in many highly profitable ventures and has written a number of books, including Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life and Cold Hard Truth: On Men, Women, and Money.
In 2017, he announced he was running to lead Canada’s Conservative Party, however, he dropped out of the race a few months later.
Barbara Corcoran
(ABC)
Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, 71, is estimated to be worth between $80 million and $100 million. When she was in her 20s, the New Jersey-born businesswoman founded her own real estate brokerage firm called The Corcoran Group. Years later, in 2001, Corcoran sold that firm to another real estate company for a whopping $66 million.
Corcoran has also faced some business failures. Earlier this year, she admitted that she fell prey to an email phishing scam that ended up costing her $380,000. Luckily, the investor quickly rebounded from the con and let her fans know that she learned a valuable investment lesson.
Daymond John
(ABC)
Born in New York City, Daymond John is a clothing apparel entrepreneur believed to have a net worth between $300 million and $350 million. His highly successful company FUBU (of which he’s now the CEO) began modestly, with John selling homemade hats on the streets of Queens for $10 each. He worked hard over the years to grow his brand, and today, FUBU has reportedly earned more than $6 billion in global sales.
John, 51, is also a motivational speaker, a brand ambassador for the e-commerce company Shopify, and the author of four books, including Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding, and Lifestyle.
Robert Herjavec
(ABC)
A Canadian citizen born in Croatia, Robert Herjavec is an IT kingpin with a reported net worth of $200 million. In the early 1990s, he founded BRAK Systems, an internet security software company that eventually became Canada’s top IP provider. In 2000, Herjavec sold BRAK systems (now called Allstream Inc.) for $30.2 million
The 58-year-old businessman went on to found The Herjavec Group in 2003, a successful security solutions integrator that began with three employees and now earns $200 million in annual revenue. Herjavec is also the author of three books, including You Don’t Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success.
Lori Greiner
(ABC)
Dubbed the “Queen of QVC” thanks to her many successful product ventures, Lori Greiner is an inventor and entrepreneur with a net worth estimated to be between $100 million and $150 million. The 50-year-old Chicago native has patented products in a wide range of categories, from cosmetic organization and jewelry storage to travel, electronics, and household items. Her long-running QVC show, Clever & Unique Creations, has been on the air since 2000, and she’s the author of the book Invent it, Sell it, Bank it!: Make Your Million Dollar Idea into a Reality.
Greiner is also well-known to Shark Tank fans for investing in Scrub Daddy, one of the most successful ventures to come out of the reality show. The cleaning tools company has earned more than $50 million in sales since its pitch on Shark Tank back in 2012.
Mark Cuban
(ABC)
The wealthiest of the Shark Tank cast members, Mark Cuban’s net worth is estimated at $4.2 billion. Born in Pittsburgh, Cuban is an enormously successful businessman, entrepreneur, and media mogul. In the late 1980s, he founded a system integrator and software reseller company called MicroSolutions, which he sold to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million in 1990.
Since 2000, Cuban has owned the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Dallas Mavericks. He’s also co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, a major media and entertainment company, and the author of the book How to Win at the Sport of Business.