Lori Greiner Wants to See Oprah Winfrey Take Mark Cuban’s Place on ‘Shark Tank’
Mark Cuban will be leaving Shark Tank at the end of season 16. The entrepreneur shocked the world when he made the announcement last month. While the season won’t air until 2025, everyone is thinking ahead. Cuban has some thoughts on who he thinks should replace him, and so do his castmates. Lori Greiner, who joined the cast of Shark Tank in season 4, has a thought on who should replace Cuban. She’s calling on the show’s fans to “manifest” Oprah Winfrey as the next main shark.
Lori Greiner would like to see Oprah join the cast of ‘Shark Tank’
Mark Cuban has become a staple on Shark Tank. Appearing for the first time in season 2 of the series, Cuban has spent years lending his business expertise to contestants and investing in some pretty successful projects. Now that he has announced he is calling it quits, everyone is weighing in on who could replace the Mavericks owner. Lori Greiner, who joined the cast a season after Cuban, has some ideas. Greiner, known as the “Queen of QVC,” told Entertainment Tonight that she’s wanted Oprah Winfrey to join the cast “for years.”
Greiner might want to sit in the tank with Oprah Winfrey, but she seems to know it’s a long shot. In her chat with Entertainment Tonight, she asked fans to manifest Oprah’s appearance. Oprah has plenty of time to clear her schedule if she is interested in investing in some new businesses. Since Cuban will appear in the show’s next season, whoever replaces him won’t appear for a while. That means fans have plenty of time to manifest it, as well.
Mark Cuban has an idea for his replacement
Mark Cuban is ready to leave Shark Tank, but he is still invested in the show. Cuban has said he enjoyed his time on the series immensely and is only walking away to spend more time with his family. It makes sense that he might have an opinion about his replacement.
According to TMZ, Cuban would love to see Emma Grede take over his spot in the tank. Grede is the co-founder and CEO of Good American. The British entrepreneur has appeared in the series before. Grede appeared in season 13 of Shark Tank and returned to the tank to invest in more business hopefuls in season 14. She does feel like a seamless choice to take Cuban’s place.
‘Shark Tank’ has had plenty of great guests, but Oprah has never appeared
While Greiner threw Oprah’s name out there as a potential new cast member, it seems like a longshot. Cuban’s reported pick seems more likely. Generally, full-time sharks appear as guest sharks first. Both Greiner and Cuban landed their spots in the tank after appearing as guests. Oprah has yet to appear. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been several high-profile guests, though.
The sharks have welcomed everyone from film producers to athletes to chefs into the shark tank. Several television personalities have appeared in guest roles, too. Ashton Kutcher and Jeff Foxworthy both appeared as guests in earlier seasons of the show. Foxworthy appeared in season 2, while Kutcher sat down with the sharks in season 7. Bethenny Frankel appeared as a guest in seasons 9 and 10.
Alex Rodriguez, Charles Barkley, and Maria Sharapova have all appeared on the show. All three have parlayed their athletic prowess and the money they made as an athlete into other business ventures. The Sharks have also welcomed a variety of authors and business professionals to sit down. Daniel Lubetzky, the chairman of Kind LLC, has appeared in more seasons as a guest than anyone else, but it’s unclear if he’d be interested in joining the show in a full-time capacity.
