Shark Tank: 10 Best Guest Sharks, Ranked By Likability

Shark Tank has a team of six permanent investors, aka, sharks who always go to great lengths to make deals with entrepreneurs. While having a stable cast is great in terms of attachment from fans, it can get a bit monotonous as well. From time to time, the producers of the show make an effort to spice things up by bringing in a guest shark. Throughout the series, there have been 27 guest sharks.

The guest sharks have not only done a great job of breaking the monotony but have also brought their unique ideas and style of investment into the tank. However, not all of them have outstandingly carried themselves while dealing with entrepreneurs and even among the good ones, not all have been likable.

10 Chris Sacca

The Lowercase Capital owner is known for his investments in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, and Kickstarter. Sacca appeared in both the seventh and eighth seasons and invested in a total of six companies.

Sacca ranks lower because he appeared to have a vendetta against Mark Cuban for being top among the richest sharks in Shark Tank. Whenever he was around Sacca made sure to question the billionaire’s every bit of advice. Another annoying Sacca trait was how he talked about Uber a bit too much, making it seem more important than every other investment he had ever made. However, he deserves credit for investing a lot more than any other guest shark.

9 Bethenny Frankel

The former Real Housewives of New York City cast member is the founder of the lifestyle brand, SkinnyGirl. She appeared in five episodes of the show, investing the most money in the food delivery company, Yumble.

Frankel hasn’t hesitated to go for low blows during her appearances on the show, something that made her quite antagonistic. While competing for Lori with Yumble, she didn’t hesitate to point out that she was a mum and Lori wasn’t. She also proved impatient by threatening to pull out of negotiations if an entrepreneur didn’t make their decision sooner.

8 Alex Rodriguez

The former New York Yankees player is the founder of AROD Corp. He had three appearances on the show and in one of them, he teamed up with Mark Cuban to invest in Ice Shaker, a company also owned by a former NFL player.

Rodriguez is undoubtedly one of the nicest sharks to appear on the tank. He has always sympathized with entrepreneurs who have sad background stories and always made sure to encourage them. Sadly, apart from being a good listener, he rarely offered any great insights. Worse still, A-Rod rarely invested either.

7 Steven Tisch

Tisch co-owns the NFL team, the New Yor Giants. When the tycoon showed up in Season 5, he invested in the food company, The Cookie Dough Cafe, for a 15% stake.

Tisch holds the honor of being the only guest shark to appear in two different versions of Shark Tank. The tycoon was briefly part of the Australian version as well. In the original, Tisch came off as the composed billionaire, making sure to keenly listen to every entrepreneur and doing his best to offer advice whenever he could.

6 Sara Blakely

Blakely is the founder of Spanx, an apparel company for women. She has been a guest on select episodes of Season 9 & 10, with her most notable investment being Sonnet James, another apparel company for women.

Blakely is seen to have an eagerness to invest that sharks such as Daymond, Robert, and Barbara lack. And as one of the few billionaires to appear on the reality business show, she always appears to know exactly the right steps that need to be followed for one to make good money.

5 Ashton Kutcher

Through his venture capital firm, A-Grade Investments, the actor has invested in over 60 companies. During his Season 7 appearance, he invested in the baby shoulder strap, Beebo, with Lori.

As someone who is deep into the venture capitalist world, Kutcher gave way more insights than other sharks during his sole appearance. He did well by downplaying his celebrity status too, making it clear that he was only there for business. Even better is that he didn’t hesitate to lecture Kevin not to look down on entrepreneurs.

4 Kevin Hart

The comedian, actor, and Hartbeat Productions founder is one of the most famous guest sharks to appear on the show. During his appearance on the 10th episode of Season 13, he made a $500,000 investment in the animation company, Black Sands Entertainment.

Despite being a first-timer on the tank, Hart managed to fit right in and even shook off bullying attempts from the veteran Kevin O’Leary. Since he is a comedian, fans might have wrongfully presumed that he was only included for comic relief but Hart proved everyone wrong by showcasing his business knowledge as he dealt with entrepreneurs. Hart was cautious with his money too, rejecting investors who looked up to him and only putting his money on a business he believed he could get worthy returns in.

3 Peter Jones

Jones has various investments in the IT sector. Additionally, he is part of the panel io the BBC One’s Dragon’s Den, one of the best investment shows that aren’t Shark Tank. Together with Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, and, Daymond John, he invested in the music company Songlorious in Season 10.

As someone who has been part of a similar show for years, Jones never seemed out of place in the tank. Out of all the sharks, he was the one who spoke most assertively hence outshining even the dominant Mark Cuban in the process. Jones was precise in his approach to questions too, making audiences wish he’d appear more frequently.

2 Rohan Oza

The renowned marketing manager has helped popularize brands such as Coca-Cola and M&M’s. He has been a guest several times, offering numerous marketing deals to entrepreneurs.

Oza is known for giving pretty accurate valuations of businesses he is interested in. He beams with humility too as he has never talked down on an entrepreneur either. Most importantly, Oza always resists the need to engage in self-promotion, compared to other sharks. This has made him a preferred shark for entrepreneurs on the few occasions on which he has shown up.

1 Richard Branson

The Virgin Group drew plenty of eyeballs to the show when he appeared a few times in Season 9. His most notable investment was that of Locker Board, a skateboard company invented by an 11-year-old child.

Branson’s appearance is memorable because he was not only ready to pour money but ready for war too. In what is undoubtedly top among the biggest Shark Tank arguments, he and Mark Cuban poured water on each other. Quite ironically is that the two billionaires were feuding over Simple Habit, a product meant to calm users down. Nonetheless, Branson is liable because he is the only shark who managed to tam mark.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1211 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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