Few reality shows are as unique or consistently popular as ABC’s “Shark Tank.” An American adaptation of an older version called “Dragon’s Den,” this is a program dedicated to the idea of entrepreneurship by having an assortment of wannabe inventors pitch their ideas to the “sharks,” a group of famous investors with lots of money to burn. The show is a love letter to all things capitalism — as reinforced by the insane amounts of money that have been spent on “Shark Tank” deals. Each episode has the panel of sharks decide on if they want to invest in each product idea, while actively criticizing or praising the concepts by using their years of business experience.
One of the biggest selling points for “Shark Tank” viewers is the club of uber-rich personalities that serve as the sharks. While some sharks are main members of the cast that appear in every episode, others come and go as guest sharks to participate in the fun of making record-breaking deals. What is consistent among all the sharks, however, is that they’re all filthy rich. While each investor of “Shark Tank” is incredibly wealthy, some definitely have more money than others. Read on to find out which sharks from “Shark Tank” are the richest.
The most recognizable of the main cast sharks has to be none other than Mark Cuban, a super wealthy billionaire who has made a consistent appearance on “Shark Tank” since Season 2 in 2011. Cuban comes from a working-class family and decided to pursue a life of business by going off to Indiana University and gaining a degree in management. From there he slowly but surely built a career in online enterprises such as social software, peer-to-peer, and other tech startups to build an impressive portfolio. Within the context of the show, Cuban is one of the nicer and more supportive sharks, but has made fewer than 100 deals across all the episodes of “Shark Tank” so far.
Cuban seems to be the richest of anyone that has appeared on “Shark Tank,” with an estimated net worth of $4.6 billion and ranked number 247 on the 2021 Forbes 400 list of the 400 richest Americans each year. These days, he’s known for his ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, his investments in cryptocurrency, various entertainment productions and, well, his appearances on “Shark Tank.” As a guest on Jon Stewart’s podcast, Cuban admitted that nearly 80% of his investments not directly related to “Shark Tank” are in cryptocurrency-related things. He has also been known for his philanthropic endeavors such as the Fallen Patriot Fund, Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology, and the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company that are dedicated to various social causes.
Although not a member of the main “Shark Tank” cast, one of the richest guests to ever appear on the show is British businessman Richard Branson. Branson’s career began in earnest during the 1970s when he opened a successful chain of record stores called Virgin Records, thus beginning what would become his massive Virgin brand. His enterprise grew massively over the next few decades as he expanded into airlines, music production, spaceflight, and media creation. As of today, Richard Branson has accumulated roughly $4.1 billion in net worth.
As for his time on “Shark Tank,” Branson only appeared for one episode during Season 9, which erupted in some notable controversy. During the episode, Branson and Marc Cuban have many issues with each other because of personal and professional differences, as well as general mean-spirited bickering from both sides. This culminates in the rather famous moment when Richard Branson throws his glass of water on Cuban, which results in him not coming back on the show again. While many wonder just how serious, or staged, of a confrontation it was, there is no doubt that Branson is partial to these sorts of stunts. During his visit to the tank, Branson invested in three business ideas — Grypmat, Locker Board, and Sierra Madre Research.
Another guest shark whose wealth blows the others out of the tank is Steve Tisch, a wealthy businessman most known for film production, owning the New York Giants, and being part of the famous Tisch family. Steve Tisch is the son of Preston Robert Tisch, who became rich based on his co-ownership of the Lowes Corporation as well as other successful business ventures. Thanks to being born into wealth, Steve Tisch had an easy time parlaying his inherited capital into his passion for filmmaking by becoming a producer in the late 1970s. Some of the films that Tisch was responsible for producing include “Outlaw Blues,” “Risky Business,” “Forrest Gump,” and “American History X.” He’s also well-known to native New Yorkers for his position as co-owner and chairman of the New York Giants NFL football team and his stewardship over their Super Bowl wins in 2007 and 2011.
Tisch is incredibly rich, and is believed by experts to be worth roughly $1.2 billion. That makes him the third richest person to appear on “Shark Tank,” which he did for one episode of the show’s fifth season in 2009. During his brief appearance, Tisch only invested in one pitch (The Cookie Dough Café) with about $50,000, which netted him 15% of the business. Lucky for him, The Cookie Dough Café has gone on to be a fairly successful investment, doubling in worth since the episode aired.
The first woman to appear on our list is Sara Blakely, a remarkable businesswoman who is most famous for founding the Spanx clothing company as well as being one of the most wealthy and powerful women in the world. In fact, Blakely reached number 23 on Forbes’ 2022 American self-made woman list, and has continued her success beyond that. Blakely earned her fame and fortune thanks to the creation of Spanx, a company she started that was dedicated to creating comfortable legwear as a brand for women. She built her business with ingenuity, cunning, and strategy, which led Oprah Winfrey to name Spanx as one of her favorite things on her show, sending sales of the product skyrocketing.
Blakely has a current net worth of $1 billion, and her appearances on “Shark Tank” throughout Seasons 9 and 10 make her one of the richest people to appear on the show as well as the richest woman. During her time on the show, she invested in several ideas that mostly had nothing to do with her own industry of women’s apparel, with one investment even focusing on pet needs.
It is very telling that many of the richest sharks to appear on “Shark Tank” are not regulars, and often aren’t people you may think of as “business people” at all. A prime example of this is the next shark on our list, who visited the tank once in Season 13: Kevin Hart. Hart is known mainly as a professional standup comedian, actor, producer, and creator who has built a massive career in entertainment over the past decade. He has been featured in countless blockbuster films such as “Ride Along,” “Get Hard,” “Central Intelligence,” “Jumanji,” and has also made several popular comedy albums. Hart consistently sells out stadiums to perform his comedy live, and has gone on to host and produce shows across his own company under the label Laugh Out Loud Network.
Kevin Hart may not be someone that comes to mind when you think of millionaires, but he is one of the wealthiest guest stars to appear on “Shark Tank” so far — with a net worth of around $450 million, he consistently ranks as one of the most financially successful comedians of all time. His guest role on “Shark Tank” was unexpected for many viewers, but also enjoyable for his humorous commentary and interesting investments including a sea moss startup.
Finally we reach another well-known, full-time shark who happens to be everyone’s favorite mean investor: Kevin O’Leary. Known ironically as “Mr. Wonderful” thanks to his Simon Cowell-style reputation, O’Leary has been part of the main cast of “Shark Tank” for its entire run on television and also previously appeared on the show’s Canadian predecessor, “Dragon’s Den.” He made a name for himself as a businessman in the 1980s by founding a learning software company, which made programs focused on education for families. What made him a shrewd operator, however, was his ability to implement hostile takeovers of competitors before finally selling his company to Mattel for millions of dollars.
Since then, O’Leary has focused mostly on his many media appearances that have made him a household name. These days, O’Leary is reported to have a net worth of about $400 million, which makes him the second-richest regular cast member on the show. He has made roughly 40 deals out of nearly 531 pitches across the show’s entire run so far — a pretty small percentage to befit his difficult reputation.
You may not have heard of this particular millionaire by name, but you’ve probably heard of his biggest creation: Ring. Jamie Siminoff is the inventor and entrepreneur who created the series of wifi-enabled doorbell cameras that have swept the internet in recent years by providing nearly endlessly bizarre front-door content through this piece of technology. His company was purchased by Amazon in 2018, and since then Siminoff has coasted off the massive boon he gained in the nearly $1 billion dollar deal. Most importantly, however, Siminoff appeared on “Shark Tank” well before his time as a guest shark when he unsuccessfully pitched Ring to the sharks as a contestant in 2013.
After failing to sell Ring to the sharks back during his own pitch, Siminoff decided the best course of action after proving them wrong was to come back as a shark himself. He appeared as a guest on their 200th episode in Season 10, investing nearly $500,000 in different pitches. While he had little net worth when he first came on “Shark Tank” to pitch his idea, Siminoff now has a higher value than many of the sharks with nearly $400 million to his name. An impressive comeback and an even more entertaining moment in “Shark Tank” history.
As the CEO of Khloé Kardashian’s massive clothing brand Good American, Emma Grede is another incredibly successful businesswoman who has made an appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Grede began her career in her native United Kingdom by getting involved in the London fashion industry. The Good American clothing company has proven successful by emphasizing inclusivity, body positivity, and size options while expanding into other clothing items such as dresses. Grede also has helped found other companies such as the shapewear company Skims, and a plant-based products company called Safely.
Emma Grede made history as the first Black female to ever be a guest shark during the premiere episode of Season 13, during which she invested $150,000 into Ooakshell, a craft headband company created by Mika Bertholdo. Grede has an estimated net worth of around $360 million, making her yet another millionaire to appear on the show but placing her on the lower end of the financial ladder for “Shark Tank” cast members.
One of the core members of the main “Shark Tank” cast, Daymond John is a multifaceted entrepreneur, author, television personality, and investor who is most known for his role as COO of the hip-hop clothing brand FUBU. In a true rags-to-riches story, John started FUBU in his mother’s basement and grew it into a billion-dollar company whose products are now available in stores across the world.
As a shark, John has been a regular cast member since the first season and has made 61 deals out of the 400-plus pitches heard over the course of his time on the show. He is generally considered one of the nicer sharks, and often hears out the contestants’ pitches fully — underscoring his self-professed commitment to supporting entrepreneurs all over the world. These days, John is reported to have a net worth of $350 million and is known for offering his consultation services to up-and-coming entrepreneurs through the Shark Group. Although not every single investment that Daymond John made on “Shark Tank” has been a winner, he’s still a fantastic investor and important member of the show’s cast.
A longtime member of the “Shark Tank” cast, Robert Herjavec is likely a very familiar face for fans of the show. Herjavec was born and raised in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before his family emigrated to Canada in the 1970s, which set him on a path toward business and entrepreneurship. He ended up finishing his studies at New College of the University of Toronto with a degree in English Literature before going off to found BRAK Systems of internet security software in 1990.
Since then, his career has only grown with ventures in information technology and television entertainment since, much like Mr. Wonderful, Herjavec was a part of “Dragon’s Den,” the Canadian predecessor to “Shark Tank.” Once the American spinoff began, Herjavec joined immediately for its first season and has been a main shark for the entire show so far, with some notable deals under his belt. According to reputable “Shark Tank” statistics, Robert Herjavec has made 57 deals out of the nearly 511 pitches he has heard with over $16,000,000 worth of investments made along the way. As far as net worth goes, Herjavec is toward the bottom of our list with a net worth of $200 million. That may be a lot to the average person, but compared to other sharks on the show, it definitely puts him toward the lower end of the spectrum.
Lori Greiner has been a main cast member since Season 4 of “Shark Tank,” and came on as a guest before joining the show on a regular basis because of her fame as the “Queen of QVC.” She is a successful businesswoman and TV personality who built her brand by first creating a plastic earring organizer which became a hit after being marketed on the Home Shopping Network. Eventually she moved on to QVC and was given her own show titled “Clever & Unique Creations” where she hawked numerous products while hosting what became one of QVC’s longest-running shows of all time.
Greiner is certainly wealthy, but on the lower end of the sharks of “Shark Tank” with a reported $150 million net worth as of 2022. On the other hand, she has invested more than many of the other sharks with 61 deals out of roughly 300 pitches seen. As a result, she has a quite high investment percentage — roughly 20 percent, accounting for nearly $10,000,000.
Last on our list is another main cast member of “Shark Tank,” and a shark that has been with the show since the first season: Barbara Corcoran. She is an incredibly successful businesswoman who started a massive real estate brokerage firm called the Corcoran Group in 1973 and sold it for millions later on.
Corcoran has become most known for her time as a shark on “Shark Tank” where she has been featured since the first episode and has 53 deals out of more than 300 pitches. She sports a reported net worth of roughly $100 million, which makes her the least wealthy of the sharks on the show. But don’t feel bad — she’s still insanely rich compared to most people, and has many successful business ventures to prove it.
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