Barbara Ann Corcoran

 Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10 1949) is an American businesswoman investor speaking, consultant writer, syndicated columnist, author, and television personality. She was the founder of The Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage located in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million in 2001 and shortly thereafter exited the company. Corcoran is one of ABC’s first Shark Tank investors. To date, she has been in every season of Shark Tank. Corcoran had signed 53 contracts as of February 2020. The biggest deal she signed was her investment of $350,000 into Coverplay for 40%. Corcoran was born in Edgewater, New Jersey, the second child of 10 from a working class Irish Catholic family. Florence Corcoran's mother was a homemaker. Edwin W. Corcoran Jr., her father, was constantly changing jobs throughout Corcoran’s life. The family relied sometimes on free delivery of food from a local grocery store. Corcoran remembers her father, one who would drink too much and behaved towards her mother with disrespect and condescendingly, particularly after he'd consumed some drinks. Corcoran struggled in school, and later found out that she was dyslexic. Corcoran was a student at a Catholic elementary school in her area and began the high school year in St. Cecilia High School, Englewood. Corcoran completed her studies at Leonia High School with a degree in English after failing several courses during her freshman years.