Mr. Wonderful Kevin O’Leary is a renowned businessman, author, investor, and television personality who is a main cast member of CBC’s Dragon’s Den and ABC’s Shark Tank. O’Leary’s most popular business venture is founding SoftKey. As of 2022, Kevin O’Leary has a net worth of $400 million. This makes him the second richest cast member on Shark Tank with billionaire Mark Cuban topping the list.
Early Life
Terence Thomas Kevin O’Leary was born on July 9, 1954, as one of two sons of Georgette and Terry O’Leary. His birthplace is Quebec, Canada, and he was raised by business-oriented parents who divorced when he was still a child.
After Terence’s biological father died due to alcoholism, his mother worked as a small business executive. Georgette later tied the knot with a United Nations employee, which let their family travel the world. Around this time, Georgette became a secretly successful investor.
She never revealed it until her will was executed after her death. And through this, young Kevin learned about advanced investing methods. He also studied psychology and environmental studies at the University of Waterloo and got an MBA from the Ivey Business School.
Business Career
O’Leary had an internship at Nabisco and served as an assistant brand manager for the corporation’s cat food line while pursuing his MBA in 1979. After this, he had a short stint co-founding Special Event Television (SET).
He sold his share in SET and started a software company in 1986. He called it SoftKey Software Products. A variety of instructional software packages were developed by the firm. SoftKey also became known for hostile takeovers of numerous rival corporations.
One business they acquired was The Learning Company, which officially became the new identity of SoftKey in 1995. Four years later, Kevin sold his software enterprise to the toy corporation Mattel for $4.2 billion.
Further Ventures
The accomplished entrepreneur made his TV debut in 2006 as one of the investors cast in the CBC series Dragon’s Den. In 2009, he was invited to join the panel of business magnates on ABC’s Shark Tank.
Mr. Wonderful, O’Leary has invested in many early startups. The most successful ones include Certifikid, BenjiLock, Honeyfund, Basepaws, Geek My Tree, Potato Parcel, Rareform, Wicked Good Cupcakes, SnarkTea, Waivecar, Boost Oxygen, Deskview, and LovePop.
He published his first book, Cold Hard Truth, in 2011. The popular investor also branched out into politics. He campaigned for the Conservative Party of Canada’s chairmanship in 2017 but ultimately abandoned the race.
Net Worth and Salary
It is reported that Kevin O’Leary makes $30,000 per episode on Shark Tank. However, it is reasonable to say that he earns more from the companies he invested in from the show.
Apart from businesses, he also puts his money into cryptocurrency. O’Leary has revealed that his portfolio includes about 32 positions in the virtual asset space, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, Polygon. Currently he has 20% of his portfolio invested in crypto including tokens and blockchain firms. His net worth currently sums up to $400 million.
Personal Life
Kevin is married with two children to his wife, Linda. They live in a Toronto mansion that houses O’Leary’s vintage Porsche and Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. The TV personality is also notorious for his watch collection, which includes timepieces from Rolex, Luminor, Jacob & Co., and other luxury brands.
