Robert Herjavec is an Croatian-Canadian businessman, investor, dancer, author and TV personality.
His estimated net worth is around 200$ million.
Early life
Robert Herjavec was born on September 14, 1962 in Varaždin, Croatia. He spent part of his childhood in Zbjeg and when he was eight he left the country together with his family. His father spoke against the country’s regime and was incarcerated previously.
When they came to USA his family only had 20$ in their pocket and one suitcase. They settled in Toronto and his father found a job in a factory and had a really good salary. Herjavec often said that his father was his biggest influence.
Herjavec graduated from New College on the University of Toronto. He received a degree in English Literature and political science. To support himself and his family he worked on various jobs, from waiting tables to delivering newspapers.
Starting career
Herjavec first started working behind the camera. He worked as an assistant director on Cain and Abel and The return of Billy Jack. His major task was during XIV Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo where he was a field producer.
After this success, Herjavec applied for a job at a company Logiquest that sold IBM mainframe emulation boards. He didn’t have the required qualifications, but he convinced the company to give him the opportunity to show off his skills. He also offered to work free for six months and this got him the position.
Herjavec did excellent at his job and after a short while he became the General Manager of the company.
In 1990 he founded his first company called BRAK in the basement of his home. The company was a Canadian integrator of Internet security software. This company was sold in 2000 for 30.2$ million.
After his retirement in 2003 he was a stay at home father. In 2003 he founded Herjavec Group and he is now the CEO of the company. Herjavec’s company is now one the largest growing technology companies in Canada. Company made over 500$ million in sales.
TV career
Since Herjavec started his success on TV he continued appearing on Canadian CBC Television series called Dragon’s Den and in on ABC’s version of the series Shark Tank. Shark Tank was especially a popular show with over 7$ million viewers.
He also won three Gemini Awards for contribution to Dragon’s Den. Herjavec appeared as a presenter at the 2013 Emmy Awards and Mr. Olympia contest. In 2015 he announced that he will be joining Dancing with the stars as one of the contestants. His dance partner was Kym Johnson, they took 6th place.
Writing career
Robert HErjavec is an author of two books. One of them is Driven: How to success in business and life from 2010 and the other one is The will to win: Leading, competing, succeeding from 2013. Both books focus on lessons Herjavec learned during his life that are success oriented. The will to win is also the name of a public presentation, that Herjavec has given, and it features businessman based on their life experience.
Personal life
Herjavec was married to Diane Plese in 1990. Their marriage lasted until 2014 and the divorce was official in 2016. Together with Diane he has two children, daughters Caprice and Skye and a son Brandon.
The reason why he separated with his wife Diane was because he fell in love with his Dancing with the star’s Kym Johnson. Their on-screen chemistry was mesmerizing to the viewers and they announced their relationship and engagement in 2016.
Couple is now married and lives in the Bridle Path, Toronto. His house is worth around 7.5$ million and it was on one episode of MTV Cribs and Joan River’s TV show How’d you got so rich. One of his greatest loves is racing cars and he also competes in the Ferrari Challenge.
Herjavec has some pretty rare cars in his collection and besides cars he also likes golf and running. He is a certified SCUBA diver (PADI) and motorcycle enthusiast.
Quick summary:
Full Name: Robert Herjavec
Date of Birth: September 14, 1962
Birth Place: Varaždin, Croatia
Age: 54 years
Profession: businessman, investor, dancer, author and TV personality
Height: 1.71 m
Weight: 65 kg
Net worth: 200$ million