It takes a lot for anyone to build up one’s career and maintain it throughout, but it takes an extraordinary person to juggle and attain perfection in different fields of life. Kevin O’ Leary is a Canadian businessman, writer, and politician of Irish descent. He lost his biological father at a very young age due to alcoholism when his mother took the reins as a business exchange to keep the house running. His stepfather became a father figure in his life and pushed him in the direction of business even as he aspired to become a photographer.
Kevin landed his first fruitful internship in 2nd year of MBA at Nabisco, Toronto where he gained immense knowledge for business and credits them for the success of his startups and businesses. O’Leary with two of his MBA classmates co-founded SET, a small television company, and gave many channels to the TV industry. After selling his shares of SET, Kevin moved forward to start Softkey, publisher, and distributor of CDs and ROM-based PC software. As the company grew, it withstood tough competition from other software and hardware companies as well. The company then started acquiring its rival companies including Compton’s New Media, The Learning Company, and Brøderbund.
In 1999 Kevin sold the company to Mattel to become a multi-millionaire but soon was fired due to the heavy losses and multiple share-holder issues. Other than this, O’Leary has also been involved in StorageNow Holdings, O’Leary Funds, O’Leary Ventures, ETF, and investing. Owing to his versatility and street-smartness, he has appeared on capitalist projects like the Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank giving him the nickname of ‘Mr. Wonderful’. After this appearance, he hosted his show, Redemption.Inc, Squeezeplay, Celebrity Jeopardy.
He has written and published books to his credit, Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life, The Cold Hard Truth on Men, Women, and Money: 50 Common Money Mistakes and How to Fix Them. Last but not least he has also run for the 2017 Conservative Party Leadership Race but dropped out due to lack of support from Quebec.
Kevin is married to Linda and the couple has two great children, Trevor and Savannah while he resides in Toronto, Ontario. He is an avid football fan and wine-enthusiast.
