Kevin O’Leary

For decades, entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary was known throughout the business world as "Canada's Donald Trump." He launched companies like Special Events Television and SoftKey International and worked with corporate giants like Nabisco and Mattel. O'Leary didn't stop there, ultimately vying to bring his image to the pop culture sphere. After several smaller television ventures, O'Leary achieved due acclaim upon joining the hit reality show "Shark Tank" (ABC 2009-). Terence Thomas Kevin O'Leary was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Despite a youthful interest in photography, O'Leary pursued a degree in environmental studies and anthropology at the University of Waterloo, followed by an MBA in entrepreneurship at the University of Western Ontario. Following graduation in 1980, by which time he had formed a relationship with the snack food company Nabisco, O'Leary pursued his own business ventures. He founded Special Events Television Network in 1984, and the software company SoftKey International in 1986. O'Leary accrued a healthy fortune via his business ventures over the span of the 1990s, yielding mergers and partnerships with The Learning Company and Mattel. His success continued into the 2000s, when he took his public persona to the small screen to host the Canadian incarnation of the reality series "Dragons' Den" (CBC Television 2006-). In 2009, O'Leary joined the reality show "Shark Tank" (ABC 2009-), on which he and fellow business magnates observed product pitches from entrepreneurial hopefuls and opted to invest or not.