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Kevin O'Leary

Top Business Speaker, Respected Investor, Author, Venture Capitalist, and Judge on ABC’s Shark Tank and CNBC's Money Court Reality Show

Renowned investor and star of ABC’s Shark Tank
Founded Softkey Software Products, a world leader in educational software acquired by Mattel for $4.2 billion
Chairman of O’Leary Funds which holds $1 billion for investment purposes
Regular contributor on ABC, CNBC and CTV, and a two-time bestselling author

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As the son of a traveling international business expert, Kevin O’Leary, had the opportunity to live and be educated in Cambodia, Cyprus, Tunisia, Ethiopia, France, and Switzerland.

After completing his MBA, O’Leary founded Special Event Television, an independent production company that produced original sports programming such as The Original Six, Don Cherry’s Grapevine, and Bobby Orr and the Hockey Legends.

O’Leary founded SoftKey Software Products—later called The Learning Company—in 1986. SoftKey was the first software company to apply the principles of consumer goods marketing to the software industry. SoftKey grew quickly as the price of personal computers declined and millions of American families began to buy software for education and entertainment. SoftKey soon became a catalyst of consolidation in the software industry, raising over $1 billion in financing and completing a series of aggressive acquisitions, including WordStar International, Spinnaker Software, Compton’s New Media, The Learning Company, Creative Wonders, the Minnesota Educational Computer Company, Mindscape, and Broderbund. By 1998, O’Leary’s company was the undisputed world leader in educational, reference, and home productivity software and the world’s second largest consumer software company, with annual sales over $800 million, 2,000 employees and offices in 15 countries. In 1999, Mattel acquired the company for $4.2 billion.

In 2003, O’Leary co-founded Storage Now, a leading developer of climate controlled storage facilities. Through a series of development projects and acquisitions, Storage Now soon had operations in 11 cities, serving such companies as Merck and Pfizer, and was acquired by In Storage REIT in March 2007 for $110 million.

In 2007, O’Leary became a founding investor and Director of Boston-based, Stream Global Services Inc., focused on the growing out sourcing business services market.

Today, O’Leary is the Chairman of O’Leary Funds, a Canadian mutual fund company with $1 billion under management and the Chairman of O’Shares Investments. He is also the founder and Chief Sommelier of O’Leary Fine Wines, an award-winning wine label, as well as a member of Boston’s 107-year old Hamilton Trust. In addition to Shark Tank, O’Leary is a regular contributor on ABC, CNBC and CTV, and a best-selling author of two books, Cold Hard Truth and Men, Women and Money, and Cold Hard Truth on Family, Kids and Money.

O’Leary holds a BA in environmental studies and psychology from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, where he serves as a board member.

Cold Hard Truth

Kevin O’Leary, one of North America’s most successful entrepreneurs, reveals the secrets that made him rich and shares his personal advice for those from every walk of life. Kevin describes his incredible journey, from his sometimes difficult childhood to the way he built his first company, managed personal pressures, and ultimately achieved remarkable success. His advice is engaging and practical – and will help audience members become the best entrepreneurs and business people that they can be. Topics cover business, money, and life, including how to find your calling and turn your talents into a profitable venture; building a dream team; transforming adversity into opportunity, and making and growing your business–and your money.

Lessons From a Shark

Kevin O’Leary will take you on a behind-the-scenes look at his hit show Shark Tank. He’ll share entertaining and insightful outtakes from his TV shows – videos you can’t see anywhere else, along with a current economic overview and how it relates to your industry, and finally, he’ll be a ‘secret agent’ for your industry with insights into how your industry is performing, where the innovation is coming from and more. All based on a content review of your industry prior to the event.

Fireside Chat with Kevin O'Leary: Understanding and Thriving in an Uncertain World

We are all facing a new and potentially challenging era at home and in our businesses: unusual presidential campaigns and high-pressure elections, high-interest rates, stock markets declining, and growing geopolitical tensions.

An industry titan and champion of small businesses who frequently appears on major networks including CNBC and Fox, Kevin O’Leary has an ear to the ground on all things business and economics. In this moderated fireside chat, he brings the host and audience up to speed on the economy, rising interest rates, elections, and how to better understand the intersections between politics and economics and how they influence our world. Questions can be custom-tailored to your company and audience.

American Business 2.0

When the great Covid Pandemic of 2020 hit the world, it altered the American business landscape. While many businesses like restaurants, airlines, and shared workplaces (think WeWork) went out of business or were reduced drastically, online businesses like Zoom, Adobe, and Shopify flourished. Meanwhile, changes that were happening slowly in the workplace, such as remote work, flexible schedules, and online retailing, accelerated rapidly and became the norm. In this talk on the future of business, Kevin O’Leary will share other changes that are happening so you and your company can be prepared for American Business 2.0.