Shark Tank Season 16 marks the final run for Mark Cuban, which marks an end to a 15-year-long stretch for the billionaire investor, but are any other Sharks on the way out?
For now, the show still boasts its four remaining originals — Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, and Kevin O’Leary — and they aren’t showing any signs of stepping down just yet. When asked by TV Insider if he had any thoughts of retiring from the ABC show anytime soon, O’Leary, 70, revealed why the answer is decidedly no.
“I really found, for me, that Shark Tank has become a passport internationally. I do a lot of work in the Middle East and Switzerland and France and England, and we’re the ambassadors to the American dream. That’s what we are. And we’re known all around the world,” he explained. “I’m the most hated guy in Austria. I didn’t know that they considered me the mean shark, but everybody getting married wants a picture with me, and they think I don’t know what happened, but it just did. I never could see this coming, and I’m proud of the platform I helped build, and I want to stay a part of it.”
“By the way, I was able to talk Mark into staying — we’re breaking the news to you — he’s gonna come on for another three years,” he added with a laugh. “Not as a shark!” Cuban clarified.
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For O’Leary, the show’s power extends to more than just his own business dealings; it’s almost more equipped than ever to help those entrepreneurs who are chosen to succeed.
“We all have distribution with now 16 years of relationship with every big box retailer, every online platform, social media. We have I think hundreds of millions of followers now collectively. And we’re good at helping companies get their story out and the story of their product,” O’Leary said.
Still, what he’s looking for in this year’s crop of potential entrepreneurs to invest in is adaptability: “For me, it’s to recognize the ability to pivot because no matter what their business plan is, it’s not gonna happen that way. And so you’re trying in that period, maybe 20 minutes, 30 minutes when you’re with them for the first time to explore their personality and to understand, are they gonna be able to deal with adversity because there will 100% be adversity.
“And in the end, it’s that entrepreneur. And so we’re really judging people. We love products, obviously, we like to see what they’ve come up with, and that matters. And in that context, I think Shark Tank is two years ahead of the market because these are all the budding ideas that are coming out of the basements. But we’re really looking for that magic entrepreneur.”
Shark Tank, Fridays, 8/7c, ABC
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