Barbara Corcoran

Template:Infobox person

Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949) is an American businesswoman, investor, television personality, and author. She is the founder of The Corcoran Group, a New York City real estate brokerage that she built from a $1,000 loan into a company she sold for $66 million in 2001. Corcoran is widely recognized as one of the original "Shark" investors on the ABC television series Shark Tank, where she has appeared since the show's premiere in 2009 and has invested over $62 million in more than 130 entrepreneurial ventures.

Often referred to as the "Queen of New York Real Estate," Corcoran transformed the residential real estate industry through innovative marketing strategies and became known for her business acumen despite struggling with dyslexia throughout her academic career. Her rags-to-riches story - from a straight-D student working as a waitress to a self-made multimillionaire - has made her a prominent motivational speaker and author of several bestselling books on entrepreneurship.

Early life and education

Barbara Ann Corcoran was born on March 10, 1949, in Edgewater, New Jersey, to Florence and Edwin W. Corcoran Jr. She was the second of ten children in a working-class Irish Catholic family, growing up with five sisters and four brothers. Her father was a foreman who frequently changed jobs and struggled with alcoholism, while her mother was a homemaker who raised the children largely on her own. The family often faced financial hardships, sometimes relying on free food deliveries from a friendly local grocer.

Corcoran has described her mother as the most influential figure in her life. Florence Corcoran, who passed away in 2012 after battling Alzheimer's disease, instilled in her daughter a strong work ethic and encouraged her imagination despite her struggles in school. "My mother was always quick to remind me of my 'wonderful imagination' with which I would eventually 'learn to fill in the blanks,'" Corcoran has recalled.

Throughout her schooling, Corcoran struggled academically due to undiagnosed dyslexia. She was often labeled the "dumb kid" by teachers and classmates, maintaining D-student status through most of her education. She attended a local Catholic elementary school, started at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood but dropped out, eventually completing her secondary education at Leonia High School. Despite her academic challenges, she earned a bachelor's degree in education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York, in 1971.

After graduating from college, Corcoran worked briefly as a schoolteacher but found the profession unfulfilling. By the time she was 23 years old, she had held 20 different jobs, including positions as a waitress, receptionist, and apartment rental agent.

Career

The Corcoran Group

In 1973, while working as a waitress at a diner in New York City, Corcoran's boyfriend Ray Simone encouraged her to pursue a career in real estate. He loaned her $1,000, and together they co-founded The Corcoran-Simone real estate company, establishing a tiny office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with seven agents. Corcoran handled the marketing and sales operations while learning the intricacies of the New York City real estate market.

In 1980, after seven years together, Simone informed Corcoran that he was leaving her to marry her secretary. Devastated but determined, Corcoran split the business with Simone and formed her own firm, The Corcoran Group. She later credited this painful breakup as a pivotal moment that fueled her drive to succeed independently.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Corcoran distinguished herself through innovative marketing strategies. In the mid-1970s, she began publishing The Corcoran Report, a newsletter covering real estate data trends in New York City that became widely cited by media outlets and established her as an industry authority. She pioneered the use of video tours for property listings and developed creative promotional campaigns that differentiated The Corcoran Group from competitors.

Under her leadership, The Corcoran Group grew to become one of the largest and most respected residential real estate brokerages in New York City, with over 850 agents and more than $2 billion in annual sales by 2001. She cultivated a company culture that emphasized customer service and agent development, and the firm became known for representing high-profile Manhattan properties.

In 2001, Corcoran sold The Corcoran Group to NRT Incorporated (now Anywhere Advisors) for $66 million. She remained briefly with the company before exiting to pursue other ventures, including media appearances, speaking engagements, and writing.

Shark Tank

Corcoran joined the cast of ABC's Shark Tank as one of the original "Shark" investors when the show premiered on August 9, 2009. The reality television series features entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to a panel of wealthy investors in hopes of securing funding. Over 16 seasons through 2024, Corcoran has listened to more than 1,300 pitches and made approximately 130 deals, investing a total of more than $62 million in various ventures.

Her investment success rate has been notable. While Corcoran has acknowledged that only about 10% of her Shark Tank investments make money, several have generated significant returns. Her most successful investment was The Comfy, an oversized wearable blanket company. In 2017, she invested $50,000 for a one-third equity stake; by 2024, the investment had returned approximately $468 million when she was bought out.

Other notable investments include:

Cousins Maine Lobster: $55,000 for 15% equity in a food truck business that grew to 50 locations across 45 cities with approximately $50 million in annual sales
Grace and Lace: $179,000 for 10% equity in a sock and apparel company that reached nearly $50 million in annual revenue
Pipcorn: $200,000 for 10% equity in a snack company generating $12 million annually by 2024
Daisy Cakes: $50,000 for 25% equity in a cake company achieving $1.2 million in annual revenue

Corcoran has made half of her deals as solo investments and half as group investments with other Sharks. Her largest single investment was $600,000 for a 30% stake in Tom & Chee, a grilled cheese restaurant chain, along with state rights for New York and Texas.

Media and speaking career

Beyond Shark Tank, Corcoran has built a substantial media presence. She serves as a real estate contributor for NBC's Today show and has hosted The Millionaire Broker with Barbara Corcoran on CNBC. She has appeared on numerous programs including Larry King Live and various business news networks.

Corcoran hosts two podcasts: Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran, focused on entrepreneurship and business advice, and 888-Barbara, a lifestyle program. She also maintains Barbara in Your Pocket on Patreon as a subscription-based business advice channel.

In 2017, Corcoran competed on season 25 of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Keo Motsepe. She was eliminated in the second week of competition.

As a keynote speaker, Corcoran commands significant fees for appearances at corporate events, sharing insights from her career on topics including entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, and overcoming adversity.

Books

Corcoran has authored several books on business and personal development:

If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: And Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom (also published as Use What You've Got)
Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business!
Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life

She has also contributed columns to More, The Daily Review, Redbook, and the New York Daily News.

Business philosophy

Corcoran's business philosophy emphasizes creativity, resilience, and the importance of personal branding. She frequently attributes her success to lessons learned from her mother and her ability to overcome the perceived limitations of her dyslexia by developing strong interpersonal and marketing skills.

Key tenets of her approach include:

Differentiation through branding: Corcoran built The Corcoran Group's reputation through distinctive marketing that set the company apart from competitors
Turning weaknesses into strengths: She has spoken extensively about how her dyslexia forced her to develop creative problem-solving skills and rely on others
Resilience after setbacks: Corcoran often cites her breakup with Ray Simone as evidence that personal failures can become catalysts for greater success
Investing in people: On Shark Tank, she frequently states that she invests in entrepreneurs rather than products, prioritizing passion and determination over business plans

Controversies

Phishing scam (2020)

In February 2020, Corcoran's office fell victim to a sophisticated phishing scheme that nearly cost her $388,700. A scammer impersonated her assistant via email, submitting a fraudulent invoice to her bookkeeper for a purported real estate renovation payment. The fake email address differed from the assistant's legitimate address by only one letter.

The bookkeeper, believing the request was legitimate, wired the funds to a company based in Germany. Corcoran's IT team later traced the scam emails to a Chinese IP address. The scammer had demonstrated detailed knowledge of Corcoran's real estate investments and business operations in Germany, enabling a convincing back-and-forth email exchange.

The scam was discovered when the bookkeeper copied the real assistant on a follow-up email, exposing the deception. Fortunately, Corcoran's bank in New York froze the funds before they reached the scammers in China, and she recovered the full amount. Corcoran later spoke publicly about the experience to raise awareness about email phishing risks, noting, "I was upset at first, but then remembered it was only money."

Personal life

Marriage and family

Corcoran met her husband, Bill Higgins, at a New York City conference in 1981 when she was already a successful businesswoman. Higgins, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, served as a captain in the United States Navy and as an FBI agent before transitioning to real estate. He participated in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War and served in the Combined Forces Command in Korea for a decade.

Initially, their relationship was strictly professional. When Corcoran expressed interest in spending a weekend together, Higgins declined - a response that, he later admitted, only increased her interest. They began dating after six months of knowing each other. Corcoran became close to Higgins' four children from his previous marriage.

After getting engaged during a trip to Norway, Corcoran and Higgins married on Valentine's Day 1988. The wedding itself was nearly missed; the couple was cross-country skiing in the woods, got lost, and hit unexpected traffic on the return trip. Corcoran's parents and the minister were about to leave when they finally arrived, and the ceremony took place five minutes later.

The couple has two children together. Their son Tom was born in 1994 via in vitro fertilization, with Corcoran's sister donating the egg, when Corcoran was 46 years old. They adopted their daughter Kate in 2005 when Corcoran was 56.

Corcoran and Higgins maintain separate bedrooms in their Manhattan residence, a practice she credits with keeping their marriage successful for over 35 years. "It keeps the sexiness in the whole thing," she has explained.

After leaving the Navy, Higgins established the William F. Higgins real estate agency, which he sold in 1997. The couple owns a Park Avenue apartment purchased for $3.5 million, a penthouse valued at $10 million, and a mobile home in Pacific Palisades, California, worth approximately $1 million.

Brother's death

In April 2019, Corcoran's brother John Corcoran, 60, died of a heart attack while vacationing in the Dominican Republic. John, a retired business owner who had operated Statewide Roofing and Siding in Edgewater, New Jersey, was found dead in his hotel room by a friend. His death occurred amid a series of suspicious American tourist deaths in Dominican Republic hotels that were under investigation by both Dominican authorities and the FBI.

Corcoran stated publicly that her brother's death was unrelated to the other incidents, as John had a pre-existing heart condition. "My brother died there, but he had an existing heart condition, so nothing is related at all, but still it was a tremendous loss," she told the media. John was buried in the Dominican Republic in his girlfriend's hometown of Bonao two days after his death.

Net worth

As of 2024, Corcoran's estimated net worth is approximately $100 million. Her wealth derives from the $66 million sale of The Corcoran Group in 2001, her Shark Tank investments and returns, real estate holdings, speaking fees, book royalties, and podcast revenue. She reportedly earned $50,000 per episode during her earlier seasons on Shark Tank.

References

External links