Shark Tank (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Shark Tank is a reality television series based on the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

 TV/BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 TV Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den is a series of reality television programmes featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. The show originated in Japan as "Manē no Tora"...

. It premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 television in August 2009 and features a panel of five wealthy entrepreneurs who are called "sharks". The panel evaluates and negotiates investment proposals from entrepreneurs.The series is produced by Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett is a British television producer and executive producer, based in the United States. He currently is the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition...

 in conjunction with Dragons' Den format-holder Sony and has been compared to the ABC series American Inventor
American Inventor
American Inventor is a reality television series based on a competition to be named America's best inventor. It was conceived by UK entrepreneur Peter Jones, who appears on the British version of the somewhat similar programme Dragons' Den, a format originated in Japan where it is owned by Sony....

.

History

Four episodes began airing in January 2010, and in August the show was renewed for an eight-episode season. In August, comic Jeff Foxworthy
Jeff Foxworthy
Jeffrey Marshall "Jeff" Foxworthy is an American comedian, television and radio personality and author. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also comprises Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Ron White. Known for his "you might be a redneck" one-liners, Foxworthy...

 joined the panel for three of the eight episodes and entrepreneur Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American business magnate and investor. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet....

 joined the panel for three episodes. The second season began on March 20, 2011 and aired on Fridays for nine weeks. On May 13, 2011, Shark Tank was renewed for a third season.

The panel

The panel consists of five business people called "sharks". Each panel member has the option of negotiating and investing with an entrepreneur who has presented a product, service or business concept. Panel members may offer investment capital,support and expertise, or they may make an offer to buy the company, or the product license or patent. Two of the panel members, Robert Herjavec and Kevin O'Leary
Kevin O'Leary (entrepreneur)
Kevin O'Leary is a Canadian entrepreneur, venture capitalist, investor, and television personality.-Early life and education:O'Leary was born in Mount Royal, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, to a salesman father and seamstress mother....

, originally appeared on the Canadian version of the show, Dragons' Den
Dragons' Den (Canada)
Dragons' Den is a Canadian television reality show, based on the internationally franchised Dragons' Den format, in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hopes of securing business financing. The show debuted on October 3, 2006 on CBC Television...

, on which they also continue to appear (as of 2011).

Panel members include:
  • Robert Herjavec, former owner of an IT security firm.
  • Barbara Corcoran
    Barbara Corcoran
    Barbara Ann Corcoran is an American businesswoman, investor, speaker, business consultant, syndicated columnist, author, and television personality. As a television personality, she is a "Shark" investor on ABC's Shark Tank.She graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College with a degree in education...

    , former owner of the real estate company, The Corcoran Group.
  • Kevin O'Leary
    Kevin O'Leary (entrepreneur)
    Kevin O'Leary is a Canadian entrepreneur, venture capitalist, investor, and television personality.-Early life and education:O'Leary was born in Mount Royal, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, to a salesman father and seamstress mother....

    , co-host of CBC's The Lang and O'Leary Exchange
    The Lang and O'Leary Exchange
    The Lang and O'Leary Exchange is a Canadian business news television series, which airs weekdays on CBC News Network. Hosted by Amanda Lang and Kevin O'Leary, the series presents a summary of the day's major business stories in a manner similar to Lang and O'Leary's earlier Business News Network...

    , and former president of The Learning Company
    The Learning Company
    The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...

    .
  • Daymond John
    Daymond John
    Daymond John is an American entrepreneur, investor, fashion designer, television personality, and motivational speaker...

    , founder of the clothing company FUBU
    FUBU
    FUBU is a clothing company. It includes casual wear, sports wear, a suit collection, eyewear, belts, and shoes for the African-American community in the sense of economic investment but not to be exclusively worn by African Americans...

    .
  • Kevin Harrington
    Kevin Harrington (entrepreneur)
    Kevin Harrington, is an American businessman and investor. He is the chairman and founder of and co-founder of OmniReliant Holdings, Inc. and is a pioneer in the infomercial industry. He has financed more than 500 direct TV marketing product launches with sales totaling over $4 billion...

    , pioneer in the infomercial industry.
  • Mark Cuban
    Mark Cuban
    Mark Cuban is an American business magnate and investor. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet....

    , owner of the Dallas Mavericks
    Dallas Mavericks
    The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

    , Landmark Theatres
    Landmark Theatres
    Landmark Theatres is the largest art house movie theater chain in the United States. It is owned by Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner through their 2929 Entertainment. The chain shows mostly first run independent, foreign film, and restored classics though some Landmark theaters also show more mainstream...

    , and chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet
    High-definition television
    High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

    .
  • Jeff Foxworthy
    Jeff Foxworthy
    Jeffrey Marshall "Jeff" Foxworthy is an American comedian, television and radio personality and author. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also comprises Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Ron White. Known for his "you might be a redneck" one-liners, Foxworthy...

    , Grammy Award winner, author and TV host.

External links

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