Barbara Ann Corcoran

 Barbara Ann Corcoran, born March 10, 1949 is an American businesswoman and investor. She is also a speaker as a consultant, columnist syndicated, speaker as an author, author, and television personality. In 2001, she launched The Corcoran Group in New York City. She sold the company to NRT for $66 million. Shortly thereafter she left the company. Corcoran was among the original Shark Tank investors. She has appeared in every season of ABC's Shark Tank. Since February of 2020, she has made 53 deals for the show, with the most significant being a $350,000 investment to purchase 40 percent of Coverplay. Corcoran was the second of 10 children from a family of Irish Catholics who worked hard was born in Edgewater in New Jersey. Florence Corcoran was Florence's mom and a homemaker. Her father, Edwin W. Corcoran Jr. was a bouncing from job to job throughout Corcoran's early years. Sometimes, her family relied upon free food delivery from a friendly local grocery store. Corcoran remembers her father as one who sometimes consumed too much alcohol and was rude to her mother and contempt, particularly when he was drinking. Corcoran had difficulty in school, and she was later told that she was dyslexic. Corcoran was a student at an area Catholic elementary school and started high school at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. Corcoran dropped several classes during her first year, and then transferred to Leonia High School where she was an A student.