The character arc of Barbara Corcoran

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 10 March 1949 in Edgewater, New Jersey. Between then and now sit a degree in education in 1971, a real estate company co-founded in 1973 on a thousand dollar loan, The Corcoran Report from the mid 1970s, The Corcoran Group formed in 1980, a sixty six million dollar sale in 2001, Shark Tales in 2011 and seventeen seasons of Shark Tank. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Barbara Corcoran?

A thousand dollars, borrowed.

She was born in Edgewater, New Jersey and took a degree in education at St Thomas Aquinas College in 1971. By her own account she had held more than twenty jobs before the one that mattered, which is the part of this line most versions leave out. In 1973, at twenty four, she co-founded a New York real estate company with a thousand dollar loan.

The move that built it was not a sale. In the mid 1970s she started publishing The Corcoran Report, a newsletter on New York property trends, at a time when nobody was publishing that data at all. It made a small firm the authority everybody quoted, which is a lesson about attention rather than about property.

She split from her business partner and formed The Corcoran Group in 1980, and sold it to NRT in 2001 for sixty six million dollars. She has been an investor on Shark Tank from the first season, appearing in all seventeen of them and making a hundred and thirty deals by January 2023. One of them, fifty thousand dollars into a company called The Comfy, grew to be worth four hundred and sixty eight million before she was bought out. Her books are Use What You've Got in 2003, Nextville in 2008 and Shark Tales in 2011.

The moments

Barbara Corcoran's timeline.

The 1970s

Jun 1971

A degree in education

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A teaching degree, which is not where this was going.

Jun 1972

More than twenty jobs

Setback, and it changed her direction. More than twenty jobs before the one that mattered. Most versions of this story leave that out.

Jun 1973

A thousand dollar loan

Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty four years old, a borrowed thousand dollars, and a company.

1 Jun 1974

Sell houses, or publish data

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: publish the report, taken, or just sell. The report made a small firm the authority everybody quoted, and the firm sold for sixty six million dollars.

Jun 1975

The Corcoran Report

Milestone, and it changed everything. Nobody was publishing that data. A small firm became the authority everybody quoted.

The 1980s

Jun 1980

The Corcoran Group

Milestone, and it changed everything. Her own firm, under her own name, at thirty one.

The 2000s

Nov 2001

Sixty six million dollars

Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty eight years from a thousand borrowed dollars to sixty six million.

Jun 2003

Use What You've Got

Milestone, and it changed her direction. The business lessons, most of them attributed to her mother.

9 Aug 2009

Shark Tank, season one

Milestone, and it changed everything. Seventeen seasons, from the first one. Almost nobody lasts that long on television.

The 2010s

22 Feb 2011

Shark Tales

Milestone, and it changed her direction. The whole arc, in one title.

The 2020s

Jan 2023

A hundred and thirty deals

Milestone, and it changed everything. Fifty thousand dollars into one company, and four hundred and sixty eight million out.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a working demonstration that a thousand borrowed dollars and a newsletter nobody asked for can end at sixty six million, if you keep going long enough.

What she wrote

Books by Barbara Corcoran

2003
Use What You've Got
Business lessons learned from her mother. Published in 2003 and reissued under this title.
2008
Nextville
On where people actually want to live as they get older.
2011
Shark Tales
How she turned a thousand dollars into a billion dollar business. The whole arc, in one title.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

Hers began with a borrowed thousand dollars and more than twenty jobs behind it. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

Draw my own line Explore Character Arc

Barbara Corcoran: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Barbara Corcoran's character arc?

A teaching degree, more than twenty jobs by her own account, a thousand dollar loan at twenty four, a newsletter that made a small firm into the authority on New York property, and a sixty six million dollar sale.

How did Barbara Corcoran start her business?

With a thousand dollar loan in 1973, at twenty four, when she co-founded a New York real estate company. She formed The Corcoran Group under her own name in 1980 after splitting from her business partner.

What is The Corcoran Report?

The newsletter on New York City property trends that Barbara Corcoran began publishing in the mid 1970s, when nobody else was gathering that data. It made a small firm the authority everybody quoted.

How much did Barbara Corcoran sell her company for?

Sixty six million dollars, to NRT in 2001. She had started the business in 1973 with a thousand dollars she had borrowed, which is the whole shape of her line in two dates.

Is Barbara Corcoran on Shark Tank?

Yes, as an investor from the first season, and she had appeared in all seventeen seasons as of the public record, making a hundred and thirty deals by January 2023. Very few people last that long on television.

What is Barbara Corcoran's best investment?

Fifty thousand dollars into a company called The Comfy, which grew to be worth four hundred and sixty eight million dollars before she was bought out. It came from a deal made on Shark Tank.

What books has Barbara Corcoran written?

Use What You've Got in 2003, which collects business lessons she attributes to her mother, Nextville in 2008, and Shark Tales in 2011, on turning a thousand dollars into a billion dollar business.

Where does this timeline of Barbara Corcoran's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Barbara Corcoran isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

More character arcs

Lives that rhyme with her.

Every Character, A to Z

Sources

Barbara Corcoran, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
NRT, acquisition of The Corcoran Group, 2001.
Publisher records for Use What You've Got, Nextville and Shark Tales.