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...first bit of unpleasantness for O'Leary. For most of the 1990s, he was the president of educational-software company Softkey, which he co-founded with fellow Canadian entrepreneur Michael Perik. O'Leary and Perik sold the firm, which they renamed the Learning Company, to Mattel in 1999 for $3.6 billion. But almost immediately the deal turned sour. The Learning Company lost $200 million in the second half of 1999 alone. O'Leary and Perik, who joined Mattel after the merger, left the toy company six months later in a management shake-up. In 2001, Mattel disposed of the Learning...
...Anyone who can pick a corporate pocket for $3.6 billion is a pretty cool customer, but there are many lingering questions about the business that O'Leary and Perik delivered to Mattel in return for that money. "It was an ugly mess," says Bernard Stolar, a software-industry veteran who was brought in by Mattel to take over the Learning Company from O'Leary and Perik. "There had been an awful lot of mismanagement at the company." (See the top 10 financial-crisis buzzwords...
...Shareholders sued Mattel over the Learning Company deal, naming O'Leary and Perik, along with other members of the toy company's management, as defendants. In the complaint, the shareholders alleged that under O'Leary and Perik the Learning Company used "accounting manipulations" to gain market share and drive up the company's stock price. According to the suit, a sales manager at the Learning Company at the time of the Mattel merger told employees that he "suspected the 'Learning Company is broke' and is 'cooking the books.' " Mattel paid shareholders $122 million to settle the suit. O'Leary...
...Where O'Leary has had clear success is on television. He started his career as a television producer before venturing into the software industry. For the past few years, he has been a staple of Canada's Business News Network, co-hosting a show called SqueezePlay. He is also one of the stars of the popular Dragon's Den, the Canadian show that served as the model for Shark Tank. When producer Mark Burnett, who also created Survivor and The Apprentice, acquired the show for American airwaves, he imported O'Leary along with another Canadian cast member, Robert Herjavec...
...nights. It premiered in early August to weak ratings but has been picking up viewers recently. ABC's website says the show gives individuals the "access to the means to live out their dreams." Each week, entrepreneurs pitch their business ventures to the five "Sharks," who in addition to O'Leary include real estate executive Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John, the founder of clothing brand FUBU. Both ABC and Mark Burnett Productions declined to comment on O'Leary's past business dealings...