If divorce is on your mind, Kevin O’Leary argues you may want to think twice.
Although the Shark Tank investor didn’t build his fortune by dispensing relationship tips (his big payday came from selling Softkey Products to Mattel), he’s long positioned himself as someone who weighs decisions in economic terms.
And in his own life, O’Leary has sustained a long-running partnership: he and his wife Linda married in 1990 and have remained together for decades.
Over the years they’ve raised two children and also collaborated professionally. One of their ventures is O’Leary Wines, where Linda serves as vice president of marketing, according to PEOPLE.
With that background, O’Leary says divorce isn’t just emotionally difficult—it can be financially devastating.
Speaking on The Diary Of a CEO podcast, the 71-year-old said: “If you’re happy 51 percent of the day with your wife or husband, stay with them.
“Every time you get divorced, you pay the woman (or man) you divorced and you pay the government a third through capital gains [taxes] and liquidation, because you can’t separate all the assets without liquidating them sometimes.”
He continued: “This is the stupidest thing you can ever do. It took your whole life to actually create this nest egg. […] Think about that for a while because you are going to wipe out up to two thirds of your wealth. You better really like somebody else a lot.
“And frankly, sometimes it’s not the other person that you’re divorcing – it’s you. You’re the problem and you should probably not get into another economic union. You should probably just date ’till you drop dead because it’s stupid.”
His cost-conscious approach to marriage goes back to his own wedding, which he says was intentionally minimal—and far cheaper than a traditional venue event.
He told CNBC back in 2018: “I said to my wife, ‘Why go in debt?’ Let’s invite our friends over, let’s buy a few cases of beer and I’ll order some pizza.
“We saved a fortune. I was able to put it in my business to start growing it.”
Not long before getting married, O’Leary had launched Softkey Products. He later sold it to Mattel for billions of dollars in 1999.