Many people might know Barbara Corcoran, better known as Barbara Ann Corcoran, from her role in the ABC hit television show Shark Tank. On Shark Tank, Barbara Corcoran’s net worth is portrayed as being extremely high. In fact, the Barbara Corcoran net worth currently sits at around $100 million. That’s not bad for someone who graduated as a D student from her high school!

Barbara Corcoran is truly one of America’s favorite entrepreneurs. Her famous book, Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 Into a Billion Dollar Business, continues to inspire entrepreneurs worldwide.

Who is Barbara Corcoran?

Barbara Corcoran is an American businesswoman, entrepreneur, author, and columnist for the New York Daily News, More, The Daily Review, and The Red Book. Why is her advice so sought after? For starters, Barbara Corcoran is a woman with humble beginnings.

Early Childhood and Personal Life

She grew up in Edgewater, New Jersey, where she was considered lower middle-class. She is the second of ten children and grew up in a traditional Irish Catholic household. She went to high school in New Jersey and got all D’s because she had a learning disability known as Dyslexia.

She then went to college at St. Thomas Aquinas College, where she graduated with a degree in education in 1971. Fortunately, although she had been a D student earlier in her education at Cecilia High School, she actually graduated with better grades after attending college classes.

How did Barbara Corcoran’s Net Worth Increase?

Barbara Corcoran wasn’t always a millionaire broker. In fact, she was a waitress in her 20s, and by age 23 she had already held around 20 jobs! She continued to quit these jobs, knowing she wanted to be her own boss and work full-time on her own.

Barbara Corcoran began working as a receptionist at a real estate office in the 1970s. The company was known as The Giffuni Brothers. She actually didn’t want to work at the real estate company at first, but she did have a side job renting out apartments.

It wasn’t until her boyfriend, Ray Simone, also known as Ramon Simone, convinced her to work as a receptionist at the real estate company that she took on the job. It was here when she decided to form the company that would eventually make her a millionaire. This company was The Corcoran Simone, which was partly funded by her boyfriend at the time. Ray Simone actually loaned her around $1000 to help create the real estate firm.

Growing the Barbara Corcoran Net Worth and Real Estate Business

Barbara Corcoran had a humble real estate career, starting off by renting out apartments. However, she grew her real estate business when her boyfriend, Ray Simone, decided to leave after 7 years. 

After the breakup, she began her own real estate firm, The Corcoran Group. She was heavily involved in growing her business and, in the mid-1970s began to publish a newsletter titled The Corcoran Report. This newsletter focused on real estate trends in New York City and helped bring her real estate firm to light.

In 2001, she grew her business enough to sell it for $66 million to the NRT group. After selling her business, she departed from it and went on to star in all 13 seasons of the show Shark Tank.

Barbara Corcoran as a Television Personality

Many people might know Barbara Corcoran from her role in Shark Tank, where she stars alongside Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban, and other business moguls. Barbara Corcoran puts her business skills to the test and invests in startup companies on the show.

Her most significant investment was in the business Coverplay for $350,000. She invested in a company that produces slipped covers over play yards for children.

Barbara Corcoran is hailed as one of the best minds on Shark Tank, having a knack for sniffing out good talent and making wise investments. 

Fun Facts About Barbara Corcoran

• In interviews, Barbara Corcoran stated that she believes creativity is the key to creating a good business dynamic and encourages it in her own real estate company.
• She not only stars in Shark Tank but is also one of the executive producers on the four-time Emmy-winning show.
• She has dyslexia, which is a condition that makes it challenging to interpret letters and read. It is considered a learning disability.
• She married Bill Higgins, a former FBI agent, and a retired Navy captain. He has a storied career while in the Gulf War.
• After selling her business for $66 million in 2001, she bought a 2,700-square-foot apartment in the co-op building on Park Avenue in New York. This purchase set her back around $3.5 million.
• She also bought a fifth avenue penthouse in 2015 for around $10 million.
• She had her first child at the age of 46 and has stated before that if she had a child early on, she wouldn’t have been able to have the dedication or the energy to create her empire.
• She had her child with the help of in vitro treatment, and the egg was donated by her sister Florence.

Barbara Corcoran Today 

Barbara Corcoran continues to do business consulting and stars on Shark Tank as well, which is now in its 12th season. She continues to do several speaking engagements, sharing her story of success and inspiring others to start their own businesses and follow their dreams. She also has a podcast available on Spotify and Apple called Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran. The podcasts run around 20 minutes and give valuable advice to entrepreneurs.

She lives in Manhattan and loves skiing and going to the beach.