Canadian businessman, politician, author, entrepreneur, and television presenter, Terence Thomas Kevin O’Leary was born on 9 July 1954.
Kevin O’Leary owns O’Leary Ventures, O’Leary Funds, and O’Shares Investments.
The businessman owes his investment skills to his mother. Here is more information about Kevin O’Leary.
Who is Kevin O’Leary?
Kevin O’Leary is a successful businessman, politician, author, entrepreneur, and television presenter.
He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up in the town of Mount Royal, Quebec, due to his parent’s heritage and Irish citizenship. O’Leary’s parents divorced as a young child, due to his father’s alcoholism. His father later died when O’Leary was seven years old.
His mother Georgette remarried, to economist George Kanawaty, who worked at the UN’s International Labor Organization. Due to his stepfather’s job, the O’Leary family constantly moved from different countries, including Tunisia, Ethiopia, Cyprus, and Cambodia.
Kevin had wanted to become a photographer but later followed his mother’s footsteps and became a businessman.
Kevin O’Leary attended the University of Waterloo. He got a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Psychology; he later earned an MBA for Entrepreneurship from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario in 1980.
How did Kevin O’Leary Become Rich?
Kevin O’Leary’s first notable job was as an Assistant Brand Manager for Nabisco’s Cat Food.
After gaining marketing experience in Nabisco, he started a brief television career with two of his MBA classmates. Later in 1986, he started Softkey in a basement in Toronto.
The company was a publisher and distributor of CD-ROM personal computer software for Windows and Macintosh Computers. The software and personal computer began to proliferate, and the company developed an educational software product.
Later, he made enough money to buy The Learning Company for $606 million in 1995. Later, O’Leary sold TLC to Mattel for $4.2 billion but only gained $11.2 million from it. Mattel took over the company due to the accumulated debt, and he left.
O’Leary went on to invest $500,000 of his payout in StorageNOW Holdings and sold it for over $4.5 million. He joined Genstar Capital and created O’Leary Funds.
It grew from $400 million in 2011 to over $4 billion by 2020. He has a YouTube channel with millions of views.
What is Kevin O’Leary’s Net Worth?
Kevin O’Leary has several streams of income and has an estimated net worth of about $40 million in 2020. This makes him the second-richest shark beneath Cuban.
Aside from his investments, he also earns from his YouTube channel, where he holds a side video series called Ask Mr. Wonderful.
Who is Kevin O’Leary’s Wife?
Kevin O’Leary married Linda in 1990. Kevin and Linda separated in 2011 but got back together after two years. The couple has two children, Trevor and Savannah.
Kevin O’Leary’s Books
Kevin O’Leary published his first book, Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life, in September 2011.
The following year, he published The Cold Hard Truth on Men, Women, and Money: 50 Common Money Mistakes and How to Fix Them.
Kevin O’Leary’s Shows
Kevin O’Leary was one of the five venture capitalists to appear on the Canadian version of the international Dragons’ Den in 2006. In 2009, he appeared on the American version of Dragons’ Den, which is Shark Tank.
He has earned the nickname “Mr. Wonderful“ from his appearances on Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank.
In 2008, Kevin O’Leary was a co-host for the Discovery Channel’s Discovery Project Earth. In 2009, he appeared alongside Amanda Lang on The Lang and O’Leary exchange.
That same year, he hosted Savings & Groans, a Winnipeg Comedy Festival gala that was aired on CBC in 2010.
In 2012, Kevin O’Leary co-produced and hosted the 2012 reality show Redemption Inc. In September 2015, he appeared as a celebrity judge in the 95th Miss America pageant. In 2018, he hosted the podcast Ask Mr. Wonderful, and in 2019, he began posting videos on his YouTube channel.
Random Facts About Kevin O’Leary
Kevin O’Leary has a cottage in Muskoka and other homes in Switzerland. He is a football fan of the New England Patriots. O’Leary is a wine connoisseur and a member of an international association of Burgundy wine enthusiasts, Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.
Kevin O’Leary’s mother was a skilled investor. She invested a third of her income, and he had taken quite a few lessons from her. However, Kevin O’Leary didn’t know about her investments until her death.
O’Leary is also a lifelong photographer, exhibiting and selling his photographs and donating to charity.