Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, is a Canadian businessman and a known TV star.

Early years

He was born on July 9, 1954 in Montreal, Canada. He is of mixed descent, one part Irish, and one part Lebanese. He has two citizenships, Irish and Canadian.  He also has a brother called Shane who later worked with him.

When he was very young, his parents got divorced. Soon after that event his father Terry died and he was left living with his mother Georgette. After his mother got married again, the family began travelling a lot due to his stepfather’s job in UN.

He went to a boarding school in Stanstead and to another school in Montreal, both in Canada. He went to Nepean High School in Ottawa. He had a wish to have a career as a photographer, but finally changed his mind and enrolled to University of Watterloo. He got his MBA degree in entrepreneurship in 1980.

Career development

Since he was young, he was surrounded by business investment climate which he wasn’t aware of. His stepfather had a career in UN’s organization, but his mother was the „shark“ in the family. She invested in things from stocks to bonds and had big success in it. Kevin found out about his mother’s great investment skills after she died, when they found her portfolio, stocks and bank accounts.

He started his career as an assistant in a company called Nabisco, which was a known brand for animal food. He took a part in developing a TV production company, but didn’t achieve much success with it.

After selling his pack of shares in the production company, he started his own business. He turned to the IT sector which was rising, and founded a company in 1986 called Softkey. It was a computer software-based company that gave him great financial income because he was smart enough to take advantage of the rapid growth in the IT sector during the 80s.

His company, Softkey, bought another company called The Learning Company which was eventually sold to the famous Mattel company, but Kevin then left the business.

He turned his business investments into storage facilities in 2003, and in 2007 he made his comeback in the IT sector by becoming a member of the board in a company based on services in technology and software.

He is now the chairman of his own company called O’Leary Funds that made his name famous amongst the nation.

His first book was released in 2011 and it was called Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life and since it was really succesful and helpful for people in the similair business, he wrote a sequel a year later.

Today he’s mostly known for his role in a TV reality show Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank where he became famous for investing in risky ideas.

Personal life

He has a passion for guitar playing and always participates in TV events where he can show off his skill as a guitarist.

He’s married to Linda O’Leary and has two children with her, but is known to be separated from her for longer periods of time. He publicly announced he will not leave any of his money to his children because he wants them to work as hard as he did for it.

Philantrophic work

He gives money to charity through Future Dragon Fund to help young entrepreneurs in starting up their business.

Quick summary

Full name:  Terence Thomas Kevin O’Leary

Date of Birth:  July 9, 1954

Birth Place: Montreal, Canada

Age: 63

Proffession: businessman and a TV star

Height: N/A

Weight: N/A

Net worth: $400 million