Barbara Ann Corcoran

 Barbara Ann Corcoran, born on March 10, 1949, is an American businesswoman and investor. She is also a public speaker and consultant, a columnist syndicated to a speaker writer, author and television personality. The Corcoran Group was a New York City real estate brokerage she established. NRT purchased it for $66 million in 2001. Corcoran soon exited the business. One of the original "Shark" investors, Corcoran has appeared in every season of ABC's Shark Tank until now. She has been involved in 53 deals since February, 2020. The biggest was a $350,000 investment that will cover 40% of Coverplay. Corcoran was born in Edgewater, New Jersey, the youngest of 10 children in a working class Irish-Catholic family. Florence Corcoran was Florence's mom and a homemaker. Edwin W. Corcoran Jr. was her father. He was constantly changing jobs throughout Corcoran’s life. Her family often relied on the free food delivery from a local grocery store. Corcoran remembers her father as a man who sometimes drank too much and did her mother a disservice and condescension, particularly when he'd been drinking. Corcoran was a struggle in school, and eventually discovered that she had dyslexia. She went to a local Catholic elementary school and started high school at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. Corcoran dropped several classes during her first year, and then transferred to Leonia High School where she was an A student.