Kevin O’Leary

Kevin O’Leary was born on July 9th, 1954. As the son of a United Nations ILO official,he had the opportunity to live and be educated in Cambodia, Cyprus, Tunisia, Ethiopia,France and Switzerland.

Kevin attended the University of Waterloo where in 1977 he received an Honorsbachelor’s degree in environmental studies and Psychology. He attended the IveyBusiness School where he received his MBA in 1980.

After working briefly as an assistant product manager at Nabisco Brands, he left topursue a career in television production and became a founding partner in Special EventTelevision, an independent production company that produced original sportsprogramming such as “The Original Six”, “Don Cherry’s Grapevine” and “Bobby Orrand the Hockey Legends”.

Kevin co-founded SoftKey Software in 1986. SoftKey was the first software company toapply the principles of consumer goods marketing to the software industry. SoftKeygrew quickly as the price of personal computers declined and millions of North Americanfamilies began to buy software for family education and entertainment.In January of 1994, SoftKey became a catalyst of consolidation in the software industry,raising over $ 1 billion in a series of debt and equity financings and completing the firsttrans-border three-way pooling, merging with Spinnaker Software and WordStarInternational. As a result of this merger the company moved its headquarters to Boston,Massachusetts. In late 1995, SoftKey acquired Compton’s New Media and The LearningCompany. In early 1996, SoftKey completed the acquisition of the MinnesotaEducational Computer Company. In late 1997 and early 1998, the company acquiredthree more of its competitors, Creative Wonders, Mindscape and Broderbund makingSoftKey the world leader in the development of educational, reference and homeproductivity software and the world’s second largest consumer software company withannual sales over $800 million, two thousand employees and subsidiaries in 15 countries.In 1996 SoftKey changed its name to The Learning Company. In early May 1999, TheMattel Toy Company acquired The Learning Company for $4.2 billion.In 2003 he became co-investor and a director in Storage Now, a leading developer ofclimate-controlled storage facilities. Through a series of development projects andacquisitions, Storage Now became an owner/operator of storage services with facilitieslocated in eleven cities serving such companies as Merck and Pfizer when it was acquiredby the In-Storage REIT in March 2007 for $110 million.

In July of 2007 Kevin became a founding SPAC investor and Director of Stream GlobalServices Inc., focused on the growing outsourcing business services market.Kevin O’Leary is the Chairman of O’Shares ETF Investments and Beanstox anautomated internet-based investment advisory service. He also holds investments in over30 private venture companies across a wide range of sectors. He is a member of Boston’s120-year-old Hamilton Trust, the oldest investment club in the US. He is a contributor toCNBC, ABC News and Good Morning America and an entrepreneur/investor co-host forthe Discovery Channels Project Earth series that explores innovative ways man couldreverse global warming implementing large scale geo-engineering infrastructure projects.He is also an investor/host of ABC Television’s four-time Emmy Award winning venturecapital reality programs “Shark Tank” and “Beyond the Tank” produced byMGM/Sony/ABC.

Kevin O’Leary is an active photographer, watch collector, guitarist and author of threenumber #1 best selling books “Cold Hard Truth”, “Men, Women and Money” and“Family Kids and Money”.

Cold Hard Truth

Kevin O’Leary, one of North America’s most successful entrepreneurs, reveals the secrets that made him rich and shares his personal advice for readers from every walk of life. Kevin describes his incredible journey, from his sometimes difficult childhood to the way he built his first company, managed personal pressures, and ultimately achieved remarkable success. His advice is engaging and practical – and will help those who read it become the best entrepreneurs and business people that they can be. Topics cover business, money, and life, including how to find your calling and turn your talents into a profitable venture; building a dream team; transforming adversity into opportunity, and making and growing your business–and your money.

Lessons From A Shark

Kevin O’Leary will take you on a behind-the-scenes look at his two hit shows, Dragons’ Den & Shark Tank. He customizes every presentation for his audience to bring unique business information to each event.  He’ll share entertaining and insightful outtakes from his TV shows – video’s you can’t see anywhere else, along with a current economic overview and how it relates to your industry, and finally, he’ll be a ‘secret agent’ for your industry with insights into how your industry is performing, where the innovation is coming from and more. All based on a content review of your industry prior to the event.

An Evening With Kevin O’leary

With candor and unmatched business smarts, Kevin O’Leary draws on his encyclopedic knowledge of finance, investing, economics, and business to discuss a variety of topics. How, for instance, will the global recession affect a myriad of industries, including your own, and what can you do to protect your company, and come out stronger than ever? Razor-sharp and quick on his feet, O’Leary pulls no punches in his enlightening and timely talks.