Awards Daily jumps into the tank—ABC’s Shark Tank, that is—to chat with executive producer Clay Newbill and sharks Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, and Kevin O’Leary about 15 years of ABC’s reality series and how it’s impacted both television and the economy.
Fifteen years ago this August, Shark Tank premiered on ABC, and it’s easy to forget that the business-minded reality series started right when we were coming out of the Great Recession, or the longest economic downturn since World War II.
“When I started preproduction on this, it was just before the big crash in 2008,” says Shark Tank executive producer Clay Newbill. “When we actually started taping and got on the air in 2009, it was a different world certainly from an economic standpoint for people in the country.”
“People couldn’t get money and you couldn’t go to a bank and borrow funds,” echoes shark Robert Herjavec, who’s been with the series since day one. “And people came on the show just looking for money [back in 2009]. Then you fast-forward to today where inflation is really high and you can’t borrow again. We always feel like our show is a reflection of what’s happening in America.”
Kevin O’Leary, another original shark, believes Shark Tank has “grown up with America” and that the country now understands what different business structures are because of the series.
“In retrospect, in the early years, we had no idea it would go this way,” says O’Leary. “But it’s become a worldwide platform and a symbol of the American dream. I travel all around the world, and people want to talk about Shark Tank. It seems to be ageless. It’s like a passport. I could have never guessed, and no one could have possibly known this would happen.”
The shark lineup has changed through the years, and while Herjavec and O’Leary are part of the OG lineup, Mark Cuban served as a guest shark early in the series and also remembers having no idea the show would become such a phenomenon, nor that he would go on to become a main shark.
“They had Jeff Foxworthy on for three episodes and me on for three episodes, and I thought, ‘I’m just gonna blow it up,'” says Cuban with a laugh. “I didn’t think the show would last! I thought, just have fun and see what happens.”
The Economic — and TV — Impact of Shark Tank
Since 2009, the show has had 20,000 applicants, seen more than 1,000 entrepreneurial pitches, made 800 on-air deals, amassed $226.5 million in deals, made $8 billion in cumulative retail sales of companies, and created thousands of jobs through the businesses that have appeared on the series. How many reality TV shows can say that?

“As great as the sharks are, the real key to the show is the entrepreneurs,” says Newbill. “Not a lot of people had targeted entrepreneurs as a good source for television, but they are. You hear the stories of these people and everything they risked in pursuit of a dream. That’s admirable and you’re drawn into that. As a viewer, you might be thinking, that could be me! It’s very tangible and relatable. I think everybody’s had an idea for a business and they probably didn’t act on it, and then here’s someone on national television who had the courage to do it.”
Herjavec believes that great entrepreneurs always have a greater goal, which is how he and the sharks often figure out who to invest in. “Even if the people are asking for $100,000 and it’s their first million-dollar business, the people who survive or grow over time are the ones who have this idea of a constant mission. Great entrepreneurs are incredibly adaptable because the reality is that change is a constant, so you want entrepreneurs who are going to adapt, pivot, and not get beaten down by the world. It’s not easy to start a business and be successful.”
While Cuban acknowledges the economic impact the show has had, he also believes it’s influenced the next generation of businesspeople. “We have entrepreneurs who watched the show as 10- or 12-year-olds. People talk about Gen Z being entrepreneurial, and Shark Tank deserves a lot of credit for that. I think we had a lot to do with the explosion in Gen Z interest in business.”
Of course, many reality shows have tried to replicate the genius of Shark Tank, even if it’s based on the Japanese Dragon’s Den format, but few have been able to do it. An impressive fact about the show, as mentioned in every episode, is that these are real deals with the sharks using their own money to invest.
“The authenticity of the show is really important to us, and I think that connects,” says Newbill. “People realize that this is a moment. Certainly when someone gets a deal, that’s the lightning in a bottle moment for us, and we had 60 moments like that this year.”
Newbill goes on to say that the show is in the zeitgeist now, and that you can stop most people on the street and they’ll know what Shark Tank is.
“Our goal is to breathe life into people’s dreams, and that’s what we’ve been doing for 15 years. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from—the rug is the great equalizer. That’s your moment to convince the sharks of your vision and your dream. When that happens, it’s magic.”
Shark Tank Season 15 Highlights

Season 15 had a lot of magical moments, including a major milestone for the series. For the first time, the sharks (along with the lions and dragons from the other series iterations) came together at the United Nations to learn about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It was many years in the making,” says Newbill. “It percolated for quite a while, and a lot of people pitched in to make it happen. The show connects with people in such a way that it’s in 50 territories around the globe, each with their own version of Shark Tank.”
O’Leary believes the UN experience is another extension of Shark Tank‘s overall mission.
“Creating jobs is No. 1 for every economy, in all countries represented by the UN. I was particularly focused on what can be done with women employment worldwide. In my own experience on Shark Tank, 75% of my returns have come from companies run by women. In many societies worldwide, women are almost suppressed in their ability to advance into running businesses and creating jobs, which I think is a huge mistake.”
Herjavec says that every so often an entrepreneur will come into the tank with fire in their eyes that inspires everyone, and when it comes to their UN experience, it was “that on steroids.”
“All of us, to have the opportunity to present and be in those hallowed halls where it’s real and does so much for the world and our little portion of Shark Tank being able to influence it, it was such an honor and made us feel really great about it.”
Other Season 15 highlights included having guest sharks like Sprinkles Cupcakes founder Candace Nelson, Good American CEO Emma Grede, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, and during the Shark-O-Ween episode, they invited Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions for Halloween-related pitches.
Surprisingly, even well-known celebrities, like Patrick Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, also pitched sharks this season, demonstrating the platform’s power and legitimacy.
“Maria’s mission [to support Alzheimer’s research in honor of her father] is something that’s important, and it’s something we should all strive to support,” says Newbill. “It ties into one of the beliefs of Shark Tank, which is to give people an opportunity to discuss a mission that can improve people’s lives.”
And the mere act of learning can also be a way for advancement. Cuban sees the most value in the show’s instructional opportunities.
“A lot of people turn to the series for an education. They can get an MBA in entrepreneurship just by watching us. The greatest impact is on our kids. If they’re watching us, they think, if this person can do it, so can I.”
“I was amazed years ago,” says O’Leary, “when a young girl, a 9-year-old, came running up to me at San Francisco Airport and she said, ‘You should have done a convertible debenture up 20% last night.’ I couldn’t believe it! That was from Shark Tank, and her mother caught up to me and said the girl was a physics phenom and she watched Shark Tank every night. She first heard of a debenture [from us] and went online and learned more about it.”
Herjavec also believes the show has made business more accessible to the mainstream.
“We’re not that good-looking,” he says. “We’re not athletic. There’s no natural quality we have that people watching the show don’t have. You don’t have to be born a certain way to be successful in business. Look at us: Anyone can do it. That accessibility makes us human and business human.”
But there’s a reason Cuban, Herjavec, and O’Leary are called sharks—they have to keep swimming forward and looking for their next venture, in the same spirit of many budding entrepreneurs on the show. After a director says cut on an episode of Shark Tank, it’s straight to work on their deals.
“They roll up their sleeves and get to work after taping,” says Newbill. “That’s when their job really starts.”
Shark Tank airs on ABC.