Barbara Ann Corcoran

 Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949) is an American businesswoman investor and speaker. She is also a consultant, speaker and syndicated columnist. She is also an TV personality, author and author. The Corcoran Group, an NY-based real estate broker was started by Corcoran. NRT bought it in 2001 for $66 million. Corcoran later left the business. Corcoran was a participant in 12 episodes of ABC's Shark Tank seasons. Corcoran had signed 53 contracts in February, 2020. Her biggest deal was her $350,000 investment in Coverplay with a 40% stake. Corcoran was the second of a family of 10 kids born to an Irish-Catholic couple working in the middle class in Edgewater, New Jersey.  Her mother, Florence, was a homemaker. Edwin W. Corcoran Jr. was her father. He was constantly moving between jobs and the next during Corcoran's early years. At times, her family relied on deliveries of food for free from a friendly local grocer. Corcoran recalls her father as a man who occasionally was a drinker and treated her mother with disrespect and sneer, especially when he was drinking. Corcoran struggled at school and discovered later she was dyslexic. Corcoran was a student at a Catholic elementary school in her area and started the high school year at St. Cecilia High School, Englewood. After failing several classes during her first year of high school, Corcoran transferred to Leonia High School and received a grade of D.