Barbara Corcoran: Founder of The Corcoran Group
Business Owner · Real Estate
Barbara Corcoran, once labeled the 'dumb kid' because of undiagnosed dyslexia, built The Corcoran Group into a New York real estate powerhouse and sold it for $66 million in 2001. She is an original Shark Tank investor.
About Barbara Corcoran: Founder of The Corcoran Group
Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949, in Edgewater, New Jersey) is an American businesswoman, investor, syndicated columnist and television personality. She founded the Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million in 2001 before exiting the company shortly afterward. She is an original "Shark" investor on ABC's Shark Tank and has appeared in all 17 of its seasons; as of January 2023 she had made 130 deals on the show, the largest a $350,000 investment for 40% of Coverplay. Corcoran was the second of ten children in a working-class Irish-Catholic family. Her mother, Florence, was a homemaker, and her father, Edwin W. Corcoran Jr., bounced from job to job; at times the family relied on deliveries of free food from a friendly local grocer. She struggled in school and was labeled the "dumb kid" by teachers and classmates, later learning that she had dyslexia, and has said the bullying "drove her to work harder and learn the skills she needed to succeed". She attended a local Catholic elementary school and started high school at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. Corcoran writes a weekly column in the New York Daily News, has been a columnist for More, The Daily Review and Redbook, and has written several books. She has been featured on Larry King Live and NBC's Today show and hosts The Millionaire Broker with Barbara Corcoran on CNBC. Sources: English Wikipedia (Barbara Corcoran, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Founder, The Corcoran Group; Shark on Shark Tank
Company Details
The Corcoran Group
Real Estate Brokerage, Investing