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Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
'Shark Tank' star Kevin O'Leary's next project is movie acting. He says he loves it when 'people say I can't do something.'
Kevin O'Leary plans to keep working until the day he dies — and beyond. "I'm never going to retire," he told Business Insider in a wide-ranging interview. "That's because I'm a vampire," he quipped, playing up his reputation as a cold-blooded capitalist, earned from years as a "Shark Tank" investor. O'Leary is known for cofounding SoftKey in the mid-1980s, building it into The Learning Company, then selling the educational-software business to Mattel for $4.2 billion in 1999. He's also the founder of O'Leary Funds and O'Leary Ventures, and has invested in companies such as Basepaws on "Shark Tank." The 71-year-old said that working, especially past 60, keeps people's minds sharp, and that doing things "outside of your comfort zone" that cause you some "stress" has been key to his staying healthy in body and mind as he's aged. The self-proclaimed "Mr. Wonderful" said he relishes competing and "being in the game." When others predict he'll fail at a challenge, it "just motivates me to go kick ass" in that industry, he said. "I just love it when people say I can't do something," he added. O'Leary's latest adventure isn't investing or starting a company: he has a major role alongside Timothée Chalamet in " Uncut Gems" director Josh Safdie's next movie, "Marty Supreme." The celebrity investor told Business Insider he initially balked at the idea as he had no experience performing from a script. He recalled the producers replying, "We don't care, we're not asking you to act. We're looking for a real asshole, and you're it. We just want that guy that we know from 'Shark Tank.'" O'Leary said he "never looked back" and was soon on set. O'Leary's performance is prominent in the movie's trailer, which gives him fourth billing behind Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Odessa A'zion. "I think that helped me in business. I think it helped me be disciplined," O'Leary said of the "remarkable" experience. Wine and worry Asked what keeps him up at night, O'Leary replied that his "one sin" is "drinking wine too close to bedtime." O'Leary said he's " really into longevity" — minding what he eats, not smoking or taking drugs, and trying to exercise daily. But he said he's found "the older I get, the better the wine gets." Sleep is so vital that you "can't let your problems keep you awake, because that's very unhealthy," O'Leary said. O'Leary told Business Insider that there are always good and bad days, describing that as "volatility" in business, relationships, and life. He said he'd recently received a "catastrophic" call from one of the entrepreneurs he had invested in, saying their company was being sued. Twenty minutes later, he learned on another call that one of his team's investments six years ago would be going public, and he stood to make 43 times his money. "So there's utter despair, and a few minutes later, utter euphoria," he said. "Sometimes the poo-poo hits the fan one hour. And then something beautiful happens the next. You've got to roll with it," he added.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Shark Tank' Star Kevin O'Leary's Main Motivation Is Proving His Haters Wrong, Not Making Money
"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary has a simple secret for staying motivated: he loves proving people wrong. "I just love it when people tell me, 'Oh, you can't do this, you can't do that,'" O'Leary recently told Fortune. "When someone tells me I can't do it, I turn around, two years later, kick their ass," he continued. "That's a great motivation. It's not about the money anymore—I just like kicking their ass." O'Leary shot to fame on "Shark Tank," where his tough negotiating style and his acerbic wit earned him the nickname "Mr. Wonderful." Whether you love him or hate him, it's impossible to deny that O'Leary is a successful businessman with a keen eye for investing and potential profit opportunities. He made his fortune by starting his own company, SoftKey Software Products, and then selling it for $3.7 billion. Don't Miss: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can Accredited Investors: Grab Pre-IPO Shares of the AI Company Powering Hasbro, Sephora & MGM— Most people would be happy to ride off into the sunset and enjoy a life of leisure after making that kind of money, but O'Leary is not like most people. He relishes the idea of developing new businesses and moving into different industries. O'Leary told Fortune that his expansion into new fields often precedes a spate of "industry experts" and haters to offer their opinions on why his new venture can't work. For O'Leary, that's like waving a red flag in front of a bull. His entry into the watch insurance industry is his favorite case of proving his doubters wrong. He said some people went so far as to tell him it would be "impossible" for him to get his business off the ground and that the field was "too niche" to accommodate a new player. Despite that, O'Leary launched his WonderCare watch insurance business in April 2024. Trending: $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. Although O'Leary has a wildly successful track record as a businessman, it doesn't mean he hasn't experienced setbacks or made bad investments. He sees it as part of the process. "I'm fairly lucky. I've made lots of mistakes investing," he told Fortune. "But I've also had extraordinary outcomes. I'm not scared to fail. I've never bet the farm on anything." O'Leary said he views having a "founder's mindset" as a key element of his success as a businessman and entrepreneur. He says he developed this mindset while working with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs in the late 1990s. O'Leary noticed that Jobs was always laser-focused on his own vision and had a unique ability to block out external 'noise." He also concedes that it took time and effort to develop that trait in himself."I've had to work on it, because I didn't even know that was important till I went through my whole thing with Jobs way back in the early 90s," O'Leary said. "But I also deal with it in every aspect of what I'm doing...[If] business is biting, you focus on making money or losing money." O'Leary's sustained success in business would seem to suggest that he has mastered this mindset. That's not to say that O'Leary doesn't take time to stop and smell the roses. He has pursuits outside of making money that help keep him centered. "I also have interest in photography, in watch collecting, guitar collecting, guitar playing, all kinds of things that I focus on to balance where my head is at," he told Fortune. "To keep the creative yin and yang." Read Next: These five entrepreneurs are worth $223 billion – Image: Imagn Images Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'Shark Tank' Star Kevin O'Leary's Main Motivation Is Proving His Haters Wrong, Not Making Money originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kevin O'Leary Thinks Everyone Needs to ‘Get Over' Trump Derangement Syndrome and Focus on His Policies
Kevin O'Leary, one of the 'sharks' on ABC's 'Shark Tank,' said he thinks too many people are hung up on their hatred of President Donald Trump and not focusing on the effectiveness of his policies, calling on Americans to get over their 'Trump derangement syndrome' and to 'get stuff done.' 'I do business all around the world, in the Middle East and in Europe, 50% of the people in the world have Trump derangement syndrome. And they still have a really hard time understanding why he's back in the White House,' he said Tuesday on CNN News Central. 'It doesn't matter. He's in the White House. We have to deal with the policy, not Trump, but policy. Let's forget about the fact that he's in the White House. There's nothing you can do about it,' the Canadian businessman continued. 'Let's get over the derangement syndrome. Let's focus on the policy and get stuff done.' O'Leary is hopeful that Trump will 'get this policy right' and backs the president's tariffs against China. 'I'm an example of someone who's really been screwed by the Chinese in I.P. theft and I'm kind of done with it,' he said. 'So, I'm very happy that some administration, this one particularly, is taking them on to resolve this problem once and for all. And Xi needs the U.S. and the U.S. needs Xi. So, let's get this thing resolved. I'm OK with the volatility.' 'If he gets this policy right and circles the wagons with the Europeans, the Mexicans and the Canadians, that's a more powerful charge against China,' O'Leary continued. The SoftKey founder also disputed that the U.S. is in a recession because of economic chaos created by Trump's tariffs. 'Let me just say that we've been talking about recession now for four years in a row, you may recall. Forecasters of recessions have been wrong for four years straight. So, probabilities of 32–55%, that's interesting, but we are not in a recession right now,' he told host John Berman. Earlier this month, O'Leary said that Trump's actions against China were not enough called for a 400% tariff on the nation. 'I'm advocating 400%,' he said. 'I do business in China. They don't play by the rules. They've been in the WTO for decades. They have never abided by any of the rules they agreed to when they came in, for decades. They cheat, they steal, they steal IP, I can't litigate in their courts. They take product technology, they steal it, they manufacture it and sell it back here.' The post Kevin O'Leary Thinks Everyone Needs to 'Get Over' Trump Derangement Syndrome and Focus on His Policies appeared first on TheWrap.
