Credit: ABC Entertainment Press Site
Highlights
- The richest Shark on Shark Tank has become a formidable business figure with some sharp business instincts and bold investment strategies.
- The inspiring journey to riches started with early entrepreneurial efforts, such as selling newspapers to working in the software industry.
- From Nuts n More to Brightwheel, here’s which Shark has made the investments and is the richest on Shark Tank.
Shark Tank is one of the few reality TV shows that has managed to keep viewers hooked even after being over a decade old. The investors or Sharks, namely Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, and Daymond John have earned immense love from the fans due to their smart business acumen and magnetic personalities. Keep reading to learn who the richest Shark on Shark Tank is.
Here’s the Revelation
Mark Cuban is the richest Shark on Shark Tank. He surpasses the other fellow investors and has a net worth of $5.7 billion.
Hailing from Pennsylvania, the giant business maven owns a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million. Prior to this, he sold his venture Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in Yahoo!
Mark’s Shark Tank History
Apart from all the business ventures mentioned above, a decent proportion of Mark’s fortune can be attributed to his presence as an investor on Shark Tank. His journey started as a guest Shark in the second and third seasons of the show. Following this, he became a constant on the investor panel.
Analyzing the potential of the company pitched in front of them, Sharks like Mark decide on whether or not to invest in a business. Here are some of his biggest deals:
1. Tower Paddle Board
With an annual revenue of $7 million, this is one of the best deals cracked by Mark Cuban on the show.
Seeking $150K for 10% equity of his company, Stephan Aarstol came up with his product, Tower Paddle Board. The motivation behind this was the growing demand for stand up paddle boards.
After an initial stumble, Stephan discussed his company’s economics, stating that it had made $100 in sales within a few months of launching. The Sharks were further intrigued when he revealed his unique customer acquisition methods, including search engine marketing. However, except for Kevin and Mark, all of them were out.
Kevin offered him $150K for 50% equity, along with a 10% royalty for each product. Stephan didn’t like the offer and refused it. Mark made the following offer at $150K for 30% equity. Kevin countered it with 25% equity. But it seemed Stephan had already made up his mind to join hands with Mark, and so he closed the deal with him.
The brand has grown significantly ever since. This was a stepping stone for Mark’s journey as an investor on the show, and he stated that “Tower is like the Dell of stand up paddle boarding.”
2. Nuts n More
Forbes listed this product as one of the “Top 10 Best Businesses to come out of Shark Tank.” Investing in it accelerated Mark’s journey towards becoming the richest Shark on Shark Tank.
Brought up by entrepreneurs Neil Cameron, Peter Ferreira, and Dennis Iannotti, Nuts n More was a business that’s all about natural nut butter. The investment sought was $250K in return for a 20% equity stake. The sales made were $100K in one year, and they were hoping to reduce the production costs by making large batches.
Daymond and Barbara marked themselves out. Even after initially making an offer, Kevin was out as well. The final deal was locked with a partnership investment from Mark and Robert at $250K for 35%.
The company’s current status is that it has achieved lifetime sales of over $60 million and yearly revenue of $6-$7 million. Its presence can be found on both online and offline platforms. With more than 1800 GNC stores and availability on Amazon, it’s reaching new heights.
The deal could be a success if Mark pushes Robert to join him, which indicates his interest in potential businesses.
3. Brightwheel
With its current valuation standing at $10 million, this investment deal showed the passionate and fiery side of Shark Mark, who knows how to do business correctly.
Dave Vasen, founder and CEO of Brightwheel, pitched his mobile app to the Sharks for preschools, daycares, and families. He sought an investment of $400K for a 4% equity share.
Except for Barbara and Daymond, all the Sharks were keen to invest in the product. But then Dave asked guest Shark Chris Sacca whether he was interested in teaming up with any one of the others. To this, he replied that he doesn’t think anyone could prove to be a beneficial partner for him. Mark lost his cool and got into an intense argument with Chris.
Keeping aside the heat, Kevin offered $400K at a 4.85% equity stake. But to everyone’s surprise, Mark and Chris let go of their anger and joined hands to make the final offer of $600K for a $9 million valuation.
A Quick Background Into Mark’s Beginnings
Some people are just born to make it big, and Mark Cuban exemplifies this. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he started selling newspapers and trash bags at an early age as he enjoyed earning on his own. But life went on, and he moved to Indiana University to graduate. After this, he went back to Pittsburgh and worked for Mellon Bank for a brief period.
Mark then worked for a software firm for a while but lost his job sometime later. This, however, turned out to be a blessing for him as he was motivated to set up a similar company himself. The idea was a success, and in 1990, he sold his company for $6 million to CompuServe.
He then co-founded Broadcast.com (then AudioNet), which was later sold out to Yahoo for $5.7 billion. This helped Mark become a billionaire, and there was no turning back for him.
Bottomline
Numerous reasons have propelled Mark’s journey towards becoming the richest Shark on Shark Tank.
Being a passionate football fan, he bought the Dallas Mavericks in 2000. This was followed by a series of company acquisitions from different industries. Additionally, he co-founded 2929 Entertainment and kickstarted his venture Cost Plus Drugs.
But what’s been a common factor in all his business decisions is that if he believes in something, he never thinks twice before taking a step.
References
1. Mark Cuban, Forbes
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
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