‘Shark Tank’ Producers Didn’t Want Two Women On The Panel In Season One

It’s no surprise to Shark Tank fans that Barbara Corcoran had to fight for her seat on the program. The multimillionaire founder of The Corcoran Group has frequently told the story of advocating for herself after producer Mark Burnett extended an offer to her, only to abruptly rescind it, as he was putting the show together in 2008.

What’s perhaps less well-known is the apparent reason for Corcoran’s predicament: Shark Tank producers thought there was only room for one woman on the five-member panel. In an interview with a Business Insider podcast earlier this week, she revealed she was flabbergasted at the apparent change in her fortune.

“They call and say they’ve changed their mind; they’ve invited another woman for the one female seat. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Corcoran disclosed the text of the email she sent to Burnett that turned things around. It shrewdly suggests inviting both women to try out for the show. In a precursor to later seasons — where Corcoran sometimes shares the stage with fellow regular shark Lori Greiner — Corcoran suggests perhaps giving up one of the other four “male” seats for her. Amazingly, Corcoran’s letter — apparently written in eight minutes — also mentions the current U.S. president as instrumental in one of her past rejections that turned into successes.

“I do my best when my back’s against the wall.

“[T]here was The Donald himself who wrongly swore in court I’d never see a penny of the $4m commission he owed me for saving his a** and making the largest land deal in the city’s history.

“I consider your rejection a lucky charm.

“You may even drop a man for me because, believe it or not, I’m just as smart and mean as the next guy.”

Of course, Corcoran got the job, although the Shark Tank team didn’t drop a man for her. The other members of the season one panel were current sharks Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, and Robert Herjavec. Rounding out the team was Kevin Harrington, who lasted two seasons. Mark Cuban started as a regular in Season 3.

There wasn’t another female investor until Greiner started as a guest shark in Season 3. She became part of the main cast the following season. Since then, Sara Blakely and Bethenny Frankel have been guest sharks on the program, both in Season 9.

Despite the initial reluctance of Shark Tank to have more than one woman as a regular on the show, it’s now common for Corcoran and Greiner to appear together, as all six of the regular sharks rotate with each other and with guest personalities.

Many of the entrepreneurs pitching Shark Tank are also women. Viewers might hope the investors look at these entrepreneurs through a gender-blind lens, but at least one shark has implied he favors female-led companies. According to Inc., O’Leary told a conference in September 2017, that of his company investments, 95 percent of those led by women met their financial targets compared to only 65 percent of those led by men.

“That’s because men were setting targets that were not achievable. Maybe that’s the aggressive nature of how they work. Women don’t waste time.”

Of course, women can also be lousy business people. But Corcoran and Greiner have proved audiences don’t mind seeing more than one as a regular on a show about making a go at entrepreneurship.

Shark Tank airs Sundays on ABC.

[Featured Image by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images]