Terence Thomas Kevin O’Leary (born 9 July 1954)[1] is a Canadian businessman, author, politician, and television personality.[2] From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows, including the business news programmes SqueezePlay and The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, as well as the reality television shows Dragons’ Den and Redemption Inc.[3] In 2008, he appeared on Discovery Channel‘s Project Earth. Since 2009, he has appeared on Shark Tank, the American version of Dragons’ Den.
O’Leary co-founded SoftKey Software Products, a technology company that sold software geared toward family education and entertainment. During the late 1980s and 1990s, SoftKey acquired rival companies such as Compton’s New Media, The Learning Company, and Brøderbund. SoftKey later changed its name to The Learning Company and was acquired by Mattel in 1999, with the sale making O’Leary a multimillionaire.[4][5] O’Leary was soon fired by Mattel after the acquisition resulted in significant losses and multiple shareholder lawsuits.[