Having watched Shark Tank for a long time, I always wondered if Kevin O'Leary just played a ruthless shark on the show or if he really was one. The article seems to confirm he is definitely the latter: "He was the soulless businessperson who just came in and bought a bunch of companies and scaled them back and laid off all the good people.”
Moreover, he manages to sell TLC for $3.5 billion to Mattel, which is forced to sell it for just $27 million 18 months later. Of course, that was a poor decision by Mattel's then CEO, considering she was warned not to do the deal: "TLC was a “house of cards.” The business was boosting its revenue by purchasing new companies, but the significant acquisition costs weren’t reflected in their top-line earnings."
Interesting that another shark on the show - Mark Cuban - also became a billionaire by selling his company to Yahoo at its peak, and Yahoo then essentially shutting it down.
The article has a paragraph basically claiming the internet / apps would have killed those companies anyway and I think I agree. Perhaps a more visionary businessman could have found a way to develop the IP in a transition but ultimately they were kind of doomed like most games companies are. It's a brutal industry.
Comments
Having watched Shark Tank for a long time, I always wondered if Kevin O'Leary just played a ruthless shark on the show or if he really was one. The article seems to confirm he is definitely the latter: "He was the soulless businessperson who just came in and bought a bunch of companies and scaled them back and laid off all the good people.”
Moreover, he manages to sell TLC for $3.5 billion to Mattel, which is forced to sell it for just $27 million 18 months later. Of course, that was a poor decision by Mattel's then CEO, considering she was warned not to do the deal: "TLC was a “house of cards.” The business was boosting its revenue by purchasing new companies, but the significant acquisition costs weren’t reflected in their top-line earnings."
Interesting that another shark on the show - Mark Cuban - also became a billionaire by selling his company to Yahoo at its peak, and Yahoo then essentially shutting it down.
The article has a paragraph basically claiming the internet / apps would have killed those companies anyway and I think I agree. Perhaps a more visionary businessman could have found a way to develop the IP in a transition but ultimately they were kind of doomed like most games companies are. It's a brutal industry.
Or that a lot of “successful” businesspeople are swindlers.
Just goes to show that business vision (and a good dose of chutzpah) goes a long way when making money
A Mattel deal is doable, just make sure it's within reasonable values so that you don't get sued