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Barbara Corcoran

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Barbara Corcoran
Corcoran in 2023
Born
Barbara Ann Corcoran

(1949-03-10) March 10, 1949 (age 75)
Edgewater, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationSt. Thomas Aquinas College (BEd)
Occupation(s)Commentator and Television personality, investor
Spouse
Bill Higgins
​
(m. 1988)​
Children2[1]
WebsiteOfficial website

Barbara Ann Corcoran[2] (born March 10, 1949)[3] is an American businesswoman,[4] investor, syndicated columnist, and television personality. She founded The Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million in 2001 and shortly thereafter exited the company. One of the show's original "Shark" investors, Corcoran has appeared in all 15 seasons of ABC's Shark Tank to date.[5] As of January 2023, she has made 130 deals on the show, the largest being a $350,000 investment for 40% of Coverplay.[6]

Corcoran is a columnist for More, The Daily Review, and Redbook, writes a weekly column in the New York Daily News, and has written several books. She has been featured on Larry King Live and NBC's Today show, and hosts The Millionaire Broker with Barbara Corcoran on CNBC.

Early life and education

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Corcoran was born in Edgewater, New Jersey,[2] the second of 10 children[7] in a working class Irish-Catholic family.[8] Her mother, Florence, was a homemaker. Her father, Edwin W. Corcoran Jr., bounced from job to job throughout Corcoran's childhood. At times, her family relied on deliveries of free food from a friendly local grocer. Corcoran remembers her father as a man who occasionally drank too much and treated her mother with disrespect and condescension, particularly when he'd been drinking.[9]

Corcoran struggled throughout her schooling, and was labeled the "dumb kid" by her teachers and classmates. She later learned that she had dyslexia, and has stated that the bullying "drove her to work harder and learn the skills she needed to succeed".[10] She attended a local Catholic elementary school and started high school at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. After flunking several courses during her freshman year, Corcoran transferred to Leonia High School, where she graduated as a D student.[11][12]

Corcoran graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College with a degree in education in 1971, faring better than she had in her previous schooling.[13][14]

Career

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After graduating from college, she taught school for a year but soon moved on. She had worked a total of 20 jobs by the time she was 23,[15] including a side job renting apartments in New York City. While she was a waitress,[16] her boyfriend convinced her to work for a real estate company. She wanted to be her own boss, and in 1973, while working as a receptionist for the Giffuni Brothers' real estate company in New York City, co-founded The Corcoran-Simonè with her boyfriend, who loaned $1,000.[17][11] She split from her boyfriend seven years later after he told her he was going to marry her secretary and she then formed her own firm, The Corcoran Group.[18]

In the mid-1970s, she also began publishing The Corcoran Report, a newsletter covering real estate data trends in New York City.[14]

In 2001, Corcoran sold her business to NRT for $66 million.[19][20][21]

In September 2017, Corcoran was announced as a contestant for season 25 of Dancing with the Stars, where she was partnered with Keo Motsepe.[22]

In 2017, Corcoran's Shark Tank deal with The Comfy, an oversized wearable blanket, turned her $50,000 investment into $468 million.[23][24]

Formerly known as Barbara Corcoran Venture Partners, today Forefront Venture Partners invests in high-growth, revenue-generating, early-stage companies.[25][26]

Personal life

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Corcoran lives in Manhattan with her husband, Bill Higgins, a retired Navy captain and former FBI agent who participated in the Gulf War.[27] The couple married in 1988.[28] Corcoran gave birth to their son in 1994, via in vitro fertilization, with an egg donated by her sister Florence.[21][19] The couple later adopted a daughter.[1]

In 2001, she purchased a 2,700-square-foot apartment in a co-op building on Park Avenue for $3.5 million.[21] In 2015, she purchased a penthouse unit on Fifth Avenue for $10 million.[29] Corcoran purchased a double wide trailer home in California for $800,000.[30][when?]

In 2019, for her 70th birthday, she held a mock funeral.[3]

Her hobbies include skiing and going to the beach.[31]

Selected bibliography

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  • If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons On Your Pigtails: and Other Lessons I Learned From My Mom; (aka "Use What You've Got"). New York City: Penguin. 2003. ISBN 1-59184-002-3. (co-authored with Bruce Littlefield)
  • Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life. Springboard Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-446-17827-3.
  • Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business. SPortfolio Trade. 2011. ISBN 978-1-59184-418-1. (co-authored with Bruce Littlefield)

References

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  1. ^ a b Barbuti, Angela (April 18, 2014). "Barbara Corcoran of 'Shark Tank': 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.
  2. ^ a b "Barbara Corcoran Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Moniuszko, Sara M. (May 1, 2019). "'Shark Tank' star Barbara Corcoran held a fake funeral for her 70th birthday". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019. The 'Stark Tank' star, who turned 70 on March 10...
  4. ^ Hodges, Dylan (August 13, 2024). "Practical guidance from Barbara Corcoran for small businesses". Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic | WISH-TV |. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  5. ^ "About Barbara". Barbara Corcoran official website. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  6. ^ "Barbara Corcoran's Shark Tank track record". Sharkalytics. Archived from the original on February 9, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Stern, Carly (July 8, 2019). "What's in a Pitch? Barbara Corcoran Knows All Too Well". Ozy. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  8. ^ Real Estate Mogul: Barbara Corcoran. NPR. April 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Frieswick, Kris (November 2016). "Why Barbara Corcoran Thinks Growing Up Poor Is a Key Ingredient for Success". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Locke, Taylor (March 10, 2020). "Barbara Corcoran: How dyslexia 'made me a millionaire'". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Corcoran, Barbara; Littlefield, Bruce (2011). Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 Into a Billion Dollar Business. Penguin Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-59184-418-1.
  12. ^ Locke, Taylor (March 10, 2020). "Barbara Corcoran: How dyslexia 'made me a millionaire'". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  13. ^ "Alumni Hall of Fame". St. Thomas Aquinas College. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Livingston, R.T. (December 2000). "The Corcoran Group: A Marketing Maven Forges into the Future". The Cooperator. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  15. ^ "barbara corcoran: About". Barbara Corcoran official website. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  16. ^ "Shark Tank Bio". American Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  17. ^ Berger, Sarah (December 29, 2017). "How this important skill helped Barbara Corcoran turn a $1,000 loan into a $66 million empire". CNBC. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  18. ^ How to Get a Shark to Invest by Barbara Corcoran. March 15, 2018. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ a b Green, Penelope (September 25, 2005). "The Real Estate 'Queen' in Her Hive". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  20. ^ "Barbara Corcoran: Rejection Breeds Success". The Wall Street Journal. June 2, 2011. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  21. ^ a b c McGeveran, Tom (December 1, 2001). "Corcoran Sells Out to Giant Group NRT; Will Barbara Stay?". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  22. ^ "Meet the 'DWTS' season 25 celebrity cast: Frankie Muniz, Barbara Corcoran and more". ABC News. September 6, 2017. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  23. ^ Fernandez, Celia (July 3, 2023). "Barbara Corcoran says this 'Shark Tank' deal turned her $50,000 investment into $468 million". CNBC. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  24. ^ "Barbara Corcoran Reveals Her Best 'Shark Tank' Investment Has Made Her $468 Million So Far — And Nobody Wanted It". Yahoo Finance. July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  25. ^ "Forefront Venture Partners Portfolio Investments, Forefront Venture Partners Funds, Forefront Venture Partners Exits". www.cbinsights.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  26. ^ "Forefront Venture Partners -- About Us". Forefront Venture Partners - helping early stage companies scale to new heights. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  27. ^ "Alpha Women, Beta Men". New York.
  28. ^ Calaway, Libby (May 12, 1999). "The Most Henpecked Man in Manhattan". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  29. ^ Gould Keil, Jennifer (April 8, 2015). "Broker legend Barbara Corcoran buys $10M penthouse". New York Post. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  30. ^ Net, Solen Le (July 14, 2023). "Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran shares a glimpse inside her mobile home". Express.co.uk. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  31. ^ "A look at Barbara Corcoran, 'Shark Tank' investor and founder of NYC real estate brokerage". Fox Business. Associated Press. August 6, 2014. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
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