Real estate tycoon Barbara Corcoran has admitted that she has “never saved a dime” in her entire life—while revealing why she believes her fondness for spending and even giving money away has actually helped her to become wealthier in the long run.
The 77-year-old “Shark Tank” and Corcoran Group founder—who first shared her unusual ethos about saving versus spending in a 2023 interview—doubled down on her thoughts about the importance of spending in a new appearance on “The Burnouts” podcast, which is hosted by billionaire Bill Gates‘ daughter, Phoebe, and her business partner, Sophia Kianni.
In a now-viral moment from the interview, Corcoran can be seen telling a somewhat surprised Gates and Kianni: “I don’t believe in saving money.”
When asked to expand on that statement, the businesswoman, who has an estimated net worth of $100 million, confessed: “I’ve never saved a dime in my life.”
However, Corcoran further elaborated that, far from splashing her cash on things like luxury vehicles or designer clothing, she prefers to focus her efforts on giving money away to worthwhile causes, as well as those in her life who she believes need financial support, insisting that, in doing so, the money will somehow find its way back to her.
She recalled when, in 2001, she sold her eponymous business for nearly $70 million, her first thought was where she was going to inject that cash.
“When I sold my business for $66 million, my first thought was, ‘What can I spend it on?'” she shared. “I gave half of it away—to family, friends, funds, and charities. Because I really believe this: When you spend money, it comes back to you.”
Corcoran went on to call attention to her own childhood, noting that she was raised “on a shoestring budget” alongside nine siblings by a mother who taught her: “Money is meant to be spent.”
However, this mindset has seen the business mogul run into trouble on a number of occasions, she shared—admitting that she has been on the verge of bankruptcy several times.
“One time, I was almost going bankrupt for maybe the fifth time!” she admitted. “I told my mom I had to shut the business down and tell everyone they no longer had jobs.”
Rather than feed into her daughter’s panic, however, Corcoran said her mother told her one very simple thing that completely changed how she was looking at the situation: “She said, ‘Don’t worry about the money. What a waste of time.'”
While blunt, that advice spurred Corcoran to rethink her options and by “the next week,” she said she had come up with a “new idea” that “made me $1 million.”
Corcoran insisted that by embracing natural peaks and troughs in her business dealings—and accepting the lows as easily as you accept the highs—are the reasons that she has been able to built such an impressive fortune.
“I never got rich by saving,” she stated. “I got rich by allowing money to come and go.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Corcoran confessed that she has never followed traditional business trajectories, explaining that she invests far more in personal vision that she does in a typed-out “plan.”
“I’m just not a big believer in business plans because they only take you so far,” she shared. “Once you get out on the street and you apply the business plan, all kind of s–t hits you. You don’t know what to expect. But if you have an image of who you want to be, nobody can touch it.”
Her comments about wealth—and how to build it—very closely echo those she shared during a 2023 interview with CNBC, when she noted that, as a startup investor on “Shark Tank,” spending money has become a very natural part of her business dealings.
“I think the carefree attitude of believing that money makes money, if you’re willing to share it and spend it, really works, or at least it has certainly worked for me, and I don’t believe in hoarding money, saving money, everything like that,” she said. “Because for me … it would take my spirit away.”
That’s not to say that Corcoran isn’t always thinking two steps ahead—with the real estate mogul previously revealing that her first thought when she thinks about purchasing a home is how she will sell it later down the line.
Speaking during an appearance on “Boardroom Talks” with host Damien Scott, New Jersey native Corcoran gave one very blunt piece of advice to homebuyers and budding investors about what they should be looking for in properties, describing it as her top “rule” for real estate buys.
Corcoran opened up about the top feature she looks for in a home, one that indicates it will offer a good return on her investment when it comes time to sell: location, location, location.
The businesswoman noted that she has always tried to follow this rule, even when it means spending more money on a home than she could necessarily “afford,” insisting that it has never steered her wrong in the past.
“My rule is: Every home I ever bought, I bought the best location I could possibly afford and very often couldn’t afford it,” she explained. “I was always afraid I couldn’t sell it. Later on, if it’s the best location, you can always sell it.”
Corcoran also noted that her success in real estate investment helped her to learn several very valuable lessons in terms of how to operate in business, explaining that the key thing most people forget is that you’re meant to “have fun” with the people you’re working with.
“Have fun with the people. If you’re not having fun with the people that work for you, you’re not going to get a creative force. … The minute you have a good idea, you should run with it,” she explained. “Most people analyze the idea and take the time. [But] if you think of it, you run with it…”
This idea should be at the heart of every business decision, Corcoran added, saying that “hiring happy people” is a big step toward ensuring the success of a company—and the well-being of its employees.
Positive attitudes are also a shared skill that she’s seen in many of her most successful “Shark Tank” entrepreneurs, even those who have seen their initial business ideas flop just months after securing their initial investment.
“I’ve had entrepreneurs I’ve invested in where the business has gone bust within like a year, and they’ve reinvented themselves and started a different business. I’ve been a partner to them.
“They always land on their feet. They keep trying. It’s the most important trait. If I have an entrepreneur that I know can come through hardship, I know I’m going to make money, period.”
Get real estate news in your inbox
