Barbara Ann Corcoran

 Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10 1949) is an American businesswoman, investor and speaker. She is also a consultant, speaker writer, syndicated columnist, television host, and author. The Corcoran Group was a New York City real estate brokerage that she founded. NRT purchased it for $66 million in 2001. Corcoran soon exited the business. Corcoran, one of ABC's original Shark investors, has been a part of every episode of Shark Tank. By February 2020, she had closed 53 deals. One of them was a purchase of $350,000 to Coverplay at 40 percent. Corcoran, who was the second child of 10 from a working-class Irish-Catholic family was born in Edgewater in New Jersey. Florence Corcoran was Florence's mom and was a homemaker. Edwin W. Corcoran Jr. Her father was always changing jobs during Corcoran's career. In times, her family relied upon deliveries of free food from a local grocer. Corcoran recalls her father as someone who would drink occasionally and did not treat her mother with respect. Corcoran was a troubled student throughout school. Later, she discovered she was dyslexic. She attended an area Catholic elementary school and started high school at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. Corcoran graduated from Leonia High School with a diploma in English, despite having failed several classes during her first year.