Barbara Ann Corcoran

 Barbara Ann Corcoran, born on March 10, 1949, is an American businesswoman and investor. She is also a lecturer and consultant, a columnist syndicated to a speaker, author, and TV show host. The Corcoran Group, an NYC-based real estate brokerage was started by Corcoran. NRT bought it in 2001 for $66 million. Corcoran then exited the business. Corcoran was among the original Shark Tank investors. She was a regular on every episode of ABC's Shark Tank. As of February 2020, she's signed 53 deals on the show, with the biggest being a $350,000 investment in 40 percent of Coverplay. Corcoran was the second of 10 children from a Catholic family with a low-income, was born in Edgewater in New Jersey. [8] Her mother, Florence, was a household worker. Edwin W. Corcoran Jr., her father, was constantly switching jobs throughout Corcoran’s life. Sometimes, the family relied on the delivery of free food from a local grocery store. Corcoran remembers her fatheras one who would drink too much and behaved towards her mother with disrespect and condescendingly, particularly after he'd had several drinks. Corcoran was a struggling student throughout school. Later, she discovered she had dyslexia. Corcoran began high school in St. Cecilia High School Englewood following her departure from her Catholic elementary school. Corcoran completed her studies at Leonia High School with a degree in English after having failed several classes during her freshman years.