‘Shark Tank:’ Who Are Mr. Wonderful’s Kids?
Known mostly as ‘Mr. Wonderful’ on ABC’s Shark Tank, millionaire investor Kevin O’Leary has been renowned is renowned for his business acumen and savvy financial decisions.
Though O’Leary’s professional life is center stage, his personal life was recently put in the spotlight due to a boating accident he and his wife Linda were involved in over the summer. While news of the tragic event made headlines, still little is known of O’Leary’s domestic side. His two children tend to stay out of the limelight, but seem to be on successful career paths of their own.
Film career with purpose
According to Closer Weekly, O’Leary was a film editor in the 1980s. Mr. Wonderful’s daughter Savannah, 26, seems to be following in her father’s footsteps, where her current title is Head of Video and Associate Creative Director at Purpose, a social impact agency.
Her bio on the company website details her previous work as a Multimedia Producer at HuffPost. A graduate from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Film Production, Savannah seems to have her dad’s ambitious leanings. Working in her spare time as a director and editor, she recently completed a documentary short entitled The Making of Panthera. She resides in New York City.
Prefers cars and music
O’Leary’s son Trevor, 23, chose a different track – literally. While there isn’t much public information about Mr. Wonderful’s son, Trevor’s LinkedIn profile says he is studying at McGill University in Canada as an Electrical Engineering student. Trevor worked on the school’s design team with fellow top undergrads building electric cars including Formula 1 race cars, according to Closer Weekly. Trevor is also known for his DJ and music producing talents.
Trevor and Savannah grew up throughout the years of O’Leary’s presence on Shark Tank. “They were toddlers when this started and they used to come to the set. It’s part of who they are,” he said, as reported by Closer Weekly.
Why he doesn’t want to be too wonderful with money
O’Leary has openly shared that he wants his kids to earn their own fortune, without handouts from his bank account. He already broke the news to Savannah and Trevor that after they get their college degrees, his checkbook closes and its time for them to make their own money.
“I told them when they finished college, I was going to give them this: nothing. Because that is what my mother did to me,” O’Leary told CNBC. “You have to go make it on your own, and I think that is a very important lesson. I paid for birth through last day of college and then nothing.”
Though it may seem like a tough stance to take, O’Leary has worked hard for his riches. According to Inc., O’Leary spearheaded the company Softkey Software Products from his basement in 1983 and sold it in 1999 to Mattel Toy Company for $3.7 billion. He went on to launch a host of other successful businesses including O’Leary Funds, O’Leary Fine Wines and the O’Leary Financial Group. Now with his Shark Tank stardom and investments, Mr. Wonderful has made quite a wonderful name for himself as a captain of industry.
While he many not give money to his children just because they ask for it, the Shark Tank star feels that implementing an allowance for kids is a good practice as long as they’re doing something to earn it. “I’m in favor of allowance for children if they work for it, because then they equate the value of money to time worked,” O’Leary said. “I’m not in favor of just giving the money as if it grows on trees — because it doesn’t.”
Case in point – in typical O’Leary fashion, he shared a story of making his son fly coach while he enjoyed first class on a long flight to Europe. “I think that’s the greatest gift I’ve ever given him: to help him see that connection,” he said, adding, “And I constantly reinforce it by doing Mean Dad things like making him sit in those crappy economy seats.”
Read more: ‘Shark Tank:’ Why is Kevin O’Leary Called Mr. Wonderful?
