‘Shark Tank’ Star Kevin O’Leary: Women-Run Businesses Make Me the Most Money—Here’s Why

photo:  Adam Taylor | ABC | Shark Tank

Kevin O’Leary on ABC’s “Shark Tank” with the founders of Wicked Good Cupcakes

CNBC Make It

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Over the course of his career as an entrepreneur and investor, Kevin O’Leary, star of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” has noticed a trend in his top performing investments: They’re businesses owned or run by women.

“I’ve been investing now for over 10 years on things like ‘Shark Tank’ deals — and other deals that are brought to me because of ‘Shark Tank’ — and the majority of my returns come from the companies run by women,” O’Leary tells CNBC Make It of his portfolio.

“Now this isn’t some kind of academic research, this is real data. This is real money coming back to me,” he adds.

For example, O’Leary says an investment in Wicked Good Cupcakes, founded by mother-daughter duo Tracey Noonan and Danielle Vilagie, is one of the most lucrative he’s made on “Shark Tank.

Sara Margulis, who landed a deal with O’Leary on season six of “Shark Tank” as the CEO and co-founder of Honeyfund, a platform for crowdfunding honeymoons, says the success of women-led ventures has lead O’Leary to be proactive about funding women.

“Of all the sharks, he’s someone who really has noticed that in his portfolio all of his returns are coming from women-led or women-owned companies,” Margulis tells CNBC Make It. “He has a huge amount of respect for when a woman walks into ‘Shark Tank.’

“The returns are the returns and they speak for themselves,” says Margulis.

Here are three reasons why O’Leary says women excel at entrepreneurship.

Read on….