Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...

'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series produced by

Mark Burnett James Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer who has won thirteen Emmy Awards including ten Primetime, one Sports Emmy Award and two Daytime Emmy Awards. His other accolades include five Producers Guild of America A ...

.Adalian, Josef (February 13, 2008). מי�
"Sony, Burnett dive into 'Shark Tank'"
. '' Variety'', "a version of the Japanese reality format."Battaglio, Stephen (December 3, 2012) "''Shark'' Attacks Prime Time!". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

''. pp. 4-5 The show features a panel of investors called "sharks," who decide whether to invest as entrepreneurs make business presentations on their company or product. The sharks often find weaknesses and faults in an entrepreneur's concept, product, or business model. Some of the investors try to soften the impact of rejection, like panel member Lori Greiner, while others such as

Kevin O'Leary Terrence Thomas Kevin O'Leary (born July 9, 1954), also known as Mr. Wonderful, is a Canadian businessman and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows, including the business news programs ''Sq ...

can be "brutal" and show "no patience even for tales of hardship." The sharks are paid as cast stars of the show, but the money they invest is their own. The entrepreneur can make a

handshake deal An oral contract is a contract, the terms of which have been agreed by spoken communication. This is in contrast to a written contract, where the contract is a written document. There may be written, or other physical evidence, of an oral contrac ...

(

gentleman's agreement ''Gentleman's Agreement'' is a 1947 American drama film based on Laura Z. Hobson's best-selling 1947 novel of the same title. The film is about a journalist (played by Gregory Peck) who pretends to be Jewish to research an exposé on the wid ...

) on the show if a panel member is interested. However, if all of the panel members opt out, the entrepreneur leaves empty-handed. In 2015, a companion spin-off series called '' Beyond the Tank'' premiered, which follows up on some of the businesses that have appeared on the show. In this spin-off series it was revealed that sharks can still make a deal with a business that was rejected in the "tank". ''Shark Tank''s sixteenth season premiered on October 18, 2024.

Series overview

Episodes

"Yes", when displayed in the main season articles, means one or more Sharks initiated a deal; it may or may not be finalized after completing a

due diligence Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care. Due diligence ...

process.

Season 1 (2009–2010)

Kevin Harrington,

Daymond John Daymond Garfield John (born February 23, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, and television personality. He is an investor on the ABC reality television series '' Shark Tank''. He is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of ...

, Barbara Corcoran, and Robert Herjavec appear as the sharks in every episode this season.

Season 2 (2011)

This is Kevin Harrington's last season as a shark. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy appeared as a guest shark in two episodes this season.

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-owner of 2929 Entertain ...

appeared as a shark in several episodes this season; in season three he would become a regular.

Season 3 (2012)

Lori Greiner appeared as a shark in several episodes this season; in season four she would become a regular.

Season 4 (2012–13)

Season 5 (2013–14)

From this season on, as well as retroactively, Mark Cuban insisted that the production company relinquish its equity clause (two percent of their profits or five percent equity in their company) with respect to featured businesses who choose to do a deal with the sharks.

John Paul Mitchell Systems John Paul Mitchell Systems (JPMS) is an American manufacturer of hair care products and styling tools through several brands including Paul Mitchell, Tea Tree, Neuro, Pro Tools, Awapuhi Wild Ginger, MITCH, MVRCK, and Professional Hair Color. His ...

co-founder John Paul DeJoria and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

owner Steve Tisch appeared as guest sharks this season.

Season 6 (2014–15)

Nick Woodman, creator of the

GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video editing software, video-editing software ...

camera, appeared as a guest shark in two episodes this season.

Season 7 (2015–16)

Actor

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. His accolades include a People's Choice Award and fifteen Teen Choice Awards, in addition to a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. K ...

, music manager Troy Carter, and venture investor

Chris Sacca Christopher Sacca (born May 12, 1975) is an American venture investor, company advisor, entrepreneur, and lawyer. He is the proprietor of Lowercase Capital, a venture capital fund in the United States that has invested in seed and early-stage ...

appeared as guest sharks this season.

Season 8 (2016–17)

Venture investor

returned as a guest shark in several episodes this season.

Season 9 (2017–18)

Guest sharks this season include Spanx founder Sara Blakely,

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding compa ...

founder

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

, brand marketer Rohan Oza, TV personality Bethenny Frankel, and former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

star

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

. The series moved to Sunday nights for this season. After the cancellation of ''

Ten Days in the Valley ''Ten Days in the Valley'' is an American drama television series that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 1, 2017, through January 6, 2018. The series, starring Kyra Sedgwick, was ordered direct-to-series on August 4, 2016. ...

'', and with the March arrival of ABC's reboot of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'', the majority of episodes aired back-to-back in two-hour blocks.

Season 10 (2018–19)

Guest sharks for this season, subtitled "A Decade of Dreams," include

Jamie Siminoff Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used a ...

, the first guest shark to have sought a deal on the show (the sharks passed on his company Doorbot, now known as

Ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

Season 11 (2019–20)

Guest sharks this season include Katrina Lake, founder and CEO of Stitch Fix; Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of Kind; tennis player

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...

; and

Anne Wojcicki Anne E. Wojcicki ( ; born July 28, 1973) is an American entrepreneur. She is known for co-founding the personal genomics company 23andMe. Early life and education Wojcicki was born in Palo Alto, California, the youngest of three sisters: Susan W ...

, CEO and co-founder of

23andMe 23andMe Holding Co. is an American personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva testing, sali ...

. Recurring Sharks include Rohan Oza and Matt Higgins.

Season 12 (2020–21)

Guest sharks this season include Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS and co-founder of Madefor, and Kendra Scott, founder and CEO of Kendra Scott LLC. Returning guest Sharks include

, baseball player and founder and CEO of A-Rod Corp, and Daniel Lubetzky, founder and executive chairman of Kind.

Season 13 (2021–22)

Guest sharks this season include Emma Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American and founding partner of Skims; actor and comedian

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. The accolades he has received include the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. After winning se ...

; Peter Jones, dragon on ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it ...

''; Daniel Lubetzky, founder and executive chairman of Kind; and Nirav Tolia, co-founder of

Nextdoor Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. is an American company that operates a hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in San Francisco, California. Nextdoor launched in the United States in October ...

Season 14 (2022–23)

Guest sharks this season include Emma Grede, CEO and co-founder of Good American and founding partner of Skims;

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow ( ; born September 27, 1972) is an American actress and businesswoman. The daughter of filmmaker Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, she established herself as a leading lady appearing in mainly mid-budget and perio ...

, actress and founder of goop; Peter Jones, dragon on ''

''; Daniel Lubetzky, founder and executive chairman of Kind; Kendra Scott, founder and CEO of Kendra Scott LLC; and Tony Xu, CEO and co-founder of

DoorDash DoorDash, Inc. is an American company operating online food ordering and food delivery. It trades under the symbol DASH. With a 56% market share, DoorDash is the largest food delivery platform in the United States. It also has a 60% market sha ...

Season 15 (2023–24)

In addition to Grede and Lubetzky returning, scheduled guest Sharks for season 15 include Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, Sprinkles Cupcakes founder Candace Nelson, and film producer

Jason Blum Jason Ferus Blum (; born February 20, 1969) is an American producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, best known for horror franchises such as ''Paranormal Activity (film series), Paranormal Activity'' (2007–2021), ''Insidi ...

Season 16 (2024–25)

After appearing as a guest shark, Daniel Lubetzky has been promoted to one of the main sharks. This is

's last season as a main shark. Guest Sharks includes the co-founder of IT Cosmetics Jamie Kern Lima, Raising Cane's founder Todd Graves, venture capitalist, and limited partner of the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Rashaun L. Williams and returning guest shark Kendra Scott.

References

{{Shark Tank Shark Tank episodes Shark Tank episodes Shark Tank episodes

Episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode, a part of a dramatic work * Episodes (TV series), ''Episodes'' (TV series), a British/American television sitcom which premiered in 2011 * Episodes (journal), ''Episodes'' (journal), a geological science journal ...