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eter Jones, CBE has joined the cast of “Shark Tank” as a recurring guest “Shark” for season 13 of the long-running ABC reality competition. He made his first appearance in the second episode of the season on October 15, 2021. He made a big splash in the episode by pushing the brother and sister team behind Long Wharf Supply Co. to restructure how they divided their business.
Mike and Lauren Lamanga founded the sustainable apparel Long Wharf Supply Co. after being inspired by one of their father’s old fisherman’s sweaters. The siblings created the first fisherman’s style sweaters made from a blend of lambswool, recycled oyster shells, and recycled water bottles, ABC reported. Each sweater reseeds as many as 30 oysters. While the idea is ingenious, the way the company was set up was not. Lauren had absolutely no equity in the company despite being a partner and passionately presenting it to the Sharks with her brother.
Jones asked Mike why he hadn’t given any equity in the company to his sister. As you can see in this YouTube clip from ABC, Mike didn’t have an answer to that question prepared. Jones pushed him on the issue, leading to Lauren being given a 10% stake in the business. Jones certainly made a big impression with this move. So who is this newest guest Shark and how did he make his fortune?
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Peter Jones’ Net Worth is Really Impressive
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Peter Jones brought his impressive resume to the “Shark Tank” during the October 15, 2021 episode. Jones has had a wildly successful career in business and on “Dragon’s Den,” the U.K. version of “Shark Tank.” He’s a businessman and investor — and we’ll get into that in a moment — who has also written a bestseller, “Tycoon,” which was published in 2007. He was named the Best Reality TV Judge at the 2017 National Reality TV Awards for his role on “Dragon’s Den.”
Jones has invested in several businesses through “Dragon’s Den, including, Reggae Reggae Sauce, “Wonderland” magazine, Concentrate Design, iTeddy, and Square Mile International. As a result of this, his companies, his television shows, and his investments, Jones has built a net worth of $400 million, Celebrity Net Worth reports.
Jones is a collector of luxury cars and owns an ultra-expensive Maybach. The average price of a Maybach is a stunning $173,000. Mercedes-Benz UK reports that he finds the car a good fit for his 6’7″ frame. When it comes to his home, he paid £7 million for an estate in Buckinghamshire on 200 acres of land in 2009. He also formerly owned a 6-bedroom home in Beaconsfield (also in Buckinghamshire) that he bought for £2.67 million in 2004 and sold for £3.1 million in 2011.
2. “Shark Tank” Isn’t His First Reality TV Show
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Peter Jones, CBE is no stranger to the world of the Sharks. He’s a veteran of the British version of “Shark Tank” called “Dragon’s Den.” In fact, he was the original Dragon and is the sole remaining original Dragon still on the show. “Dragon’s Den” premiered in 2005 and has been a consistent hit for BBC. Jones has remained a constant on the program alongside 17 other Dragons.
Jones may be familiar to American audiences due to another show he developed and starred in. “American Inventor” ran on ABC starting in March 2006. He teamed up with “The X Factor” production company Fremantle and Simon Cowell to produce the show and served as a judge on the show, which only ran for one season, per IMDb.
Jones has parlayed his success in business into other television gigs as well. In 2006, he became the “face of business” programming on the UK’s ITV and produced a show called “Tycoon” for the network, Digital Spy reported. “Tycoon” was the British version of American Inventor.” The show also only ran for one season.
3. Peter Jones Has Been an Entrepreneur Since He Was a Kid
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When Peter Jones was a child of just 7-years-old, he pretended to be a successful businessman while visiting his father at work. His ABC bio revealed that he liked to sit at his dad’s desk and pretend to be making deals. When he was 16, he started his first business. At 18, he started his second company. Then, in his early 20s, he struck it rich with his first multimillion-dollar computer business. However, by the time he turned 30, he’d lost it all and spent half a year living in the warehouse for his company.
Jones didn’t let that failure get him down and took a job working for the IT company Siemens Nixdorf. Within a year of joining that firm, he was running the U.K.’s PC business and he was still just in his early 30s. When he was 32, he founded Phones International Group. That business became one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe. By the time Jones was 37, his company was bringing in more than $400 million in annual sales.
Now 55, Jones runs his own investment group and has stakes in a wide variety of industries including technology, publishing, food, and entertainment. Altogether, he’s invested in more than 50 businesses that bring in $500 million in sales.
4. Peter Jones Doesn’t Believe in Failure
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Peter Jones is an ideal judge/investor for “Shark Tank” and “Dragon’s Den” because his personal motto is “there’s no such thing as failure, only feedback,” his ABC bio reveals. His early business success and failure led him to learn from each experience so that each new venture became bigger and more successful than the last.
The feedback part of his motto is especially important in his role as an investor and mentor to the contestants on “Shark Tank” and “Dragon’s Den.” Consider the case of Mike and Lauren Lamanga of Long Wharf Supply Co mentioned at the beginning of this article. He saw an inequity in the way the company was set up and offered his feedback to get Lauren a share of the company from her brother.
He takes a similar approach on “Dragon’s Den” in the U.K. as well. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Jones said, “If someone comes onto Dragons’ Den and annoys me, I’m going to tell them exactly what I think. If I think they’re tatty, they’re tatty. It’s the same with my workforce: if people are messing around or not doing their job, I’m not going to be nice. I’m going to be honest. It’s not a business question, it’s one of ethics.”
These days, Jones puts his money into causes that advance young entrepreneurs. In 2005, he established The Peter Jones Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to “provide young people, especially those who are disadvantaged, with the enterprise skills and experiences needed to better prepare themselves for successful employment or self-employment.” In 2009, he opened the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, which he designed to bring “the boardroom to the classroom” via programs made available at colleges and universities throughout the U.K.
5. Peter Jones’ CBE Title Is a Big Deal
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Peter Jones has the CBE title attached to his name. For Americans (in particular) that might not mean much but for people in the U.K., it’s a big deal. The CBE title is part of the British honors system and is awarded as public recognition of the recipient’s bravery, service, or merit. In ascending order, the designations are MBE – Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, OBE – Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, CBE – Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and GBE/KBE/DBE – Knight or Dame of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, the Gazette revealed.
The British Honors System is presided over by Queen Elizabeth II and was established in 1917 by the Queen’s grandfather, King George V. The August 24, 1917 edition of the London Gazette outlined the then brand new program. The awards were established in the midst of World War I to offer a boost in morale to a country mired in the ugliness of the war, per the UK Parliament.
The CBE is awarded to people who are prominent in the U.K. at either a regional or national level. CBEs are also given out to people who have made an innovative contribution in some area, which applies to Peter Jones, CBE. Some notable CBEs include Stephen Hawking, Hugh Laurie, and Helena Bonham Carter. Jones was awarded his CBE in 2009.
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