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Robert Herjavec is a businessman, investor, and television personality, who has been on Shark Tank since 2009.
Herjavec emigrated to Canada with his parents after escaping Communism in the former Yugoslavia, according to his website. He started off earning money by delivering newspapers and waiting tables before taking a leap of faith.
Herjavec launched a computer company from the basement of his parents’ home and thus began his lucrative career.
Robert Herjavec Net Worth: $200 Million
Robert Herjavec has a net worth of $200 million, as estimated by Celebrity Net Worth.
Herjavec received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Technology from Ernst & Young in 2012. He also received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Outstanding Service to Canada that same year.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. He Has Made More Than 57 Deals Across 100+ Episodes of ‘Shark Tank’
According to Sharkalytics, a site that tracks and analyzes the data from Shark Tank, Herjavec has invested in a total of 57 deals during his time on the show. Those investments add up to a grand total of nearly $16.6 million.
The analysis from Sharkalytics comes from 511 pitches over 126 episodes of Shark Tank. According to IMDb, Herjavec has appeared on the show in 186 episodes between 2009-2018, making the dataset incomplete.
Herjavec’s 57 deals from 511 pitches makes for an 11 percent rate of investment. His $16.6 million divided over 57 deals averages just over $291,000 per deal. His average equity stake is 18 percent. His largest deal, in both investment and equity, came in Episode 27 of Season 6, in which he put $5,000,000 into Zero Pollution Motors for a 50 percent stake in the company.
Of the 57 deals analyzed, Herjavec has partnered with another shark 33 times (58 percent). His most frequent co-investor is Kevin O’Leary, with whom he’s partnered on 15 of those 33 deals.
2. He Sold BRAK Systems to AT&T for $30.2 Million in 2000
After several different ventures — from covering the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo as a field director for a TV station to selling IBM mainframe emulation boards for a startup company — Herjavec founded BRAK Systems in 1990. He described the company as one that integrates, “taking other people’s technology and integrating it into companies.”
“We were competing against large companies like Sun and IBM, so the biggest challenge was figuring out how not to be a small business. I had to convince engineers from big companies to come work for me. I understood that people don’t want to work somewhere. They want to be part of something. They don’t want to be managed. They want to be led. So I made work fun, and they came,” Herjavec told Fortune back in 2016.
He described taking a second mortgage on his home and using credit cards to help finance expanding the company. Herjavec chose to take care of his employees, rather than service his debt, and the company soon became profitable. His patience was soon rewarded.
“Back then, Internet companies had massive valuations, and we became a hot commodity. In 2000, AT&T (Canada made me an incredible offer of $30.2 million, so I sold BRAK Systems to them,” Herjavec added.
3. He Founded the Herjavec Group in 2003
Shortly after selling BRAK Systems to AT&T, Herjavec founded The Herjavec Group. According to his LinkedIn account, he’s served as founder and CEO since 2003. The company’s LinkedIn page says it “provide[s] cybersecurity products and services to enterprise organizations.”
“My wife at the time wanted to go back to work, so I stayed home with the kids. It was the best experience. But I missed running my own company, so in 2003, I put up $20,000 and started the Herjavec Group with a couple of guys I’d worked with,” Herjavec told Fortune.
“Herjavec Group delivers SOC 2 Type 2 certified managed security services supported by state-of-the-art, PCI compliant, Security Operations Centers, operated 24/7/365 by certified security professionals,” the page reads.
The Herjavec Group boasts a global presence, with offices and “Security Operations Centers” in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company’s website offers several services, including “Managed Services, Advisory Services, PCI Compliance, Technology Architecture & Implementation, Identity Services, Incident Response [and] Threat Management.”
4. He Owns Herjavec Group Racing & Has Competed in the Ferrari Challenge North America Series
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In addition to his traditional business ventures, Herjavec also spends time with Herjavec Group Racing, including getting behind the wheel himself. He has competed in the Ferrari Challenge North America as Ferrari #007.
The Ferrari Challenge is a single-make racing series, in which all competitors compete using the same basic vehicle; drivers in the Ferrari Challenge compete using the 488 Challenge, “a special racing model derived from the 488 GTB road car,” according to the Ferrari Challenge website.
“He achieved multiple podiums over the course of his racing career and was named Rookie of the Year in 2011. He placed 2nd in total points in the Coppa Shell class for the 2014 Season. Robert understands that racing mirrors his approach in the business world. He believes you need to fail fast and continue to move forward,” reads the racing section of Herjavec’s website.
In addition to the enjoyment he derives from driving, Herjavec recognizes the branding opportunities inherent to racing, according to an interview he did with Motor Trend.
“I love it, but it’s a great tool of our customers and we compete against very large companies, IBM, and people like that. So you’re not going to see a CEO of IBM in a racecar, but you get to see me in a racecar, which is kind of cool,” he told Motor Trend.
5. He Has Released 3 Books, 2 of Which Were Top 10 Best Sellers
Because Herjavec understands that diversification is a key component of success, he’s always looking for new baskets for his eggs. One of the ventures he’s gotten into is writing and publishing.
Herjavec has published three books, to date. His first book, Driven: How To Succeed In Business And In Life, was published on September 27, 2011. It went on to become a No. 1 National Bestseller, billed as Herjavec “sharing his hard-won wisdom in one of the most inspirational business books of recent times.”
In April 2017, Herjavec published The Will To Win, another No. 1 National Bestseller. The book is described as detailing “why good enough is never good enough, in business and in life,” in which he shares “some of his own secrets for greatness.”
On May 30, 2017, Herjavec published his most recent book, You Don’t Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success. The book, listed as a Wall Street Journal Bestseller, offers readers the chance to “learn the art of persuasion in order to get ahead in our personal and professional lives.”