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Kevin O'Leary once had a photo lab in his basement.
As a teenager, he did everything he could to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer. There was a problem: his father didn't agree with it.
“He said you're not good enough and you're starving,” O'Leary said in a video posted to X. “He said you should go to college and get a degree, and then I got an MBA. That was a very important tool for me later on.”
See also: Kevin O'Leary says this is the only skill he looks for in a leader – but it's 'almost impossible to find'
O'Leary has previously explained why he believes an MBA, which can cost an average of $231,420 for a top-10 program in the US, was worth it.
In a 2021 Facebook post, he wrote that the degree gave him “a head start” and taught him “discipline,” turning him from a 20-year-old with poor study habits to someone who knew how to make money Defends ideas and… Focus on his strengths.
O'Leary graduated in 1980 from the University of Western Ontario, which now costs $83,250 a year for domestic students.
Photography still played a key role in his life: after graduating, he founded Special Event Television, his first production company with a focus on sports entertainment.
Related: Kevin O'Leary is launching a new agency with the founder of Shazam
“It was my attempt to get back to what I loved, which was photography and producing, and make money from it,” O'Leary said in the X video. “Science and art came together in my life.”
When I first wanted to be a photographer, my father told me I wasn't good enough – I would starve. So I got an MBA and eventually built and sold a $4.2 billion company. It all came together – business, creativity and the drive to win. I wouldn't change anything. pic.twitter.com/Xv8ttJFk2V
— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) September 17, 2024
O'Leary sold the company and used the proceeds to found SoftKey in 1986, which sold educational and entertainment software. He and his two business partners sold SoftKey to Mattel in 1999 for $4.2 billion.
Looking back, he has no regrets.
“All of these things have made me who I am today, the good, the bad and the ugly,” O'Leary said in the video. “And I wouldn’t change a thing.”
See also: Kevin O'Leary says right to separate laws are 'crazy'
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