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Kevin O'Leary, an investor and entrepreneur known for his role on Shark Tank, has spoken extensively about his views on success. In an Instagram video posted on in a January 24, 2025, O'Leary shared that the true definition of success is not tied to the pursuit of money for its own sake. Instead, he emphasized the importance of personal freedom. He explained:
"If you're an entrepreneur, it's not about the pursuit of money. That's greed. Nothing to do with it. It's the pursuit of personal freedom."
Kevin O'Leary further shared his approach to entrepreneurship, explaining that financial independence is a tool to gain control over one’s time, rather than a goal.
Shark Tank Kevin O'Leary discusses the pursuit of personal freedom as the true definition of success
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The role of money in achieving success
In O'Leary’s view, money should not be the end goal of an entrepreneurial journey. He underlined in his Instagram video that the pursuit of wealth without purpose is inherently unsustainable, as "you never have enough." He said:
"Pursuing money, just for the sake of having it, you'll never get there."
The Shark Tank investor clarified that success is not about acquiring possessions, such as flashy cars or diamonds. For him, success is defined by the ability to have control over one’s time, especially later in life, saying:
"You want to pursue personal freedom to have control over your time later in life and provide for your family, of course."
The pursuit of personal freedom
This perspective was similarly echoed in a February 2021 podcast interview, The School of Greatness, with Lewis Howes. O'Leary stated that one's success must include financial freedom but not be focused solely on achieving it. The Shark Tank investor pointed out the importance of viewing money as a means to have the liberty to do whatever one would like in life.
“When you have enough financial resources, you can spend your day doing things that you want to do," O'Leary stated.
O'Leary further clarified that the entrepreneurial drive is rooted in greed, but in the desire to be free.
"A third of our population seeks entrepreneurship, and you know why? It’s not out of greed for money," he noted.
Shifting mindsets to achieve financial freedom
In his video for Instagram and his podcast interview, O'Leary stressed that achieving real financial freedom requires a shift in the mindset. Many people consider money bad or greedy and sometimes corrupted. However, according to him, the development of an "abundance" mindset is the way forward.
He added that money should be viewed as a tool for individual growth, so that one can live more meaningfully.
"I don’t think you can teach that. It only shows up in about a third of the population," he wrote in the Instagram post caption.
Shark Tank airs on ABC on Fridays at 8 PM ET. Fans can also stream full episodes on Hulu to catch all the latest entrepreneurial pitches and insights from Kevin O'Leary and the rest of the Sharks.
