For most of its 16-season run, Mark Cuban has been by far the wealthiest panelist (or shark, if you prefer) on “Shark Tank,” the popular ABC reality show in which entrepreneurs pitch their fledgling businesses to a group of wealthy venture capitalists in search of funding.
Season 16, however, which premiered in October 2024, is Cuban’s last, and many of the show’s longtime fans are saddened to see him swim away from everyone’s favorite startup-funding school of sharks.
“Shark Tank’s” 16th season also welcomed a new permanent panelist to the program, however. Daniel Lubetzky, founder of Kind Snacks, has joined the show as a permanent panelist alongside Cuban for season 16. He will take on the title of wealthiest shark (and will hold the distinction of being the show’s only remaining billionaire) in season 17 after Cuban’s departure.
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Before signing on as a permanent judge to replace Cuban (after one season of overlap), Lubetzky periodically appeared on the program as a guest shark during seasons 11 through 15.
But just who is Shark Tank’s newest permanent panelist? How did he get so wealthy? How much is he worth now, and how does his wealth compare to that of his fellow sharks?
Lubetzky (left) joined the “Shark Tank” cast as a permanent panelist on season 16 after appearing occasionally as a guest shark since season 11.
Christopher Willard/Getty Images
What is Daniel Lubetzky’s net worth in 2025?
As of late February 2025, Lubetzky’s net worth is estimated by most sources to be around $2.3 billion.
Much of this wealth comes from Kind Snacks, which Lubetzky sold majority ownership of to Mars (the candy and pet food behemoth) in 2020. The company Lubetzky had built was reportedly valued at $5 billion for the purposes of the deal.
This sale likely transformed much of Lubetzky’s wealth from private equity into cash — a far more liquid asset perfect for investing in startups on television as a “Shark Tank” panelist.
Related: Mark Cuban’s net worth ahead of ‘Shark Tank’ departure
Is Daniel Lubetzky the richest shark on ‘Shark Tank?’
Lubetzky is not the richest permanent panelist on “Shark Tank,” but he soon will be. That distinction currently belongs to Mark Cuban, whose net worth is estimated at between $5.7 billion (Forbes) and $8.09 billion (Bloomberg) as of this article’s last update.
Cuban announced that he will be retiring from “Shark Tank’s” permanent cast after the show’s 16th season, which will leave Lubetzky as the wealthiest venture capitalist on the show’s panel of judges for season 17.
In a 2024 interview with Fortune, Lubetzky described Cuban as an “incredible inspiration in the way he thinks,” noting that he “processes at such a speed, he’s like a computer … he sees patterns, and like two or three questions later, you realize what he meant.”
Here’s how all of the show’s current permanent sharks measure up wealth-wise:
‘Shark Tank’ Sharks by net worth
Mark Cuban: $5.7–8.09 billionDaniel Lubetzky: $2.7 BillionKevin O’Leary: $400 millionDaymond John: $350 millionRobert Herjavec: $300 millionLori Greiner: $150 millionBarbara Corcoran: $100 million
Daniel Lubetzky’s ‘Shark Tank’ investments
Lubetzky has struck a number of major deals since beginning to appear on Shark Tank as a guest investor in season 11. Here are a few highlights:
In a spring 2020 episode, Lubetzky invested $1 million for a 25% stake in Yellow Leaf Hammocks, a company that sells hammocks woven by hand in rural Thailand to consumers and Virgin Cruise Lines. In a January 2021 episode, Lubetzky invested $200,000 cash and a $200,000 line of credit for a 10% stake in Quevos, which makes crunchy, chip-like snacks out of egg whites. In a spring 2021 episode, Lubetzky and co-shark Robert Herjavec invested $100,000 for a 35% stake in Tandm Surf, a family-owned bodyboard company based in San Clemente, California. In a December 2022 episode, Lubetzky invested $75,000 for a 35% stake in HummViewer, a Colorado-based company that sells wearable hummingbird feeder masks that allow users to observe hummingbirds up close.In a spring 2024 episode, Lubetkzy invested $250,000 for a 20% stake in Fila Manila, a company that produces Filipino spreads, condiments, and dips and sells them directly to consumers online (in addition to being stocked at select grocers).
“The best pitches have a little bit of creativity, but not so much that you lose the essence of the product.”
—Daniel Lubetzky about product pitches on “Shark Tank”
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Who is Daniel Lubetzky?
Lubetzky is best known as the founder of Kind Snacks, which produces the KIND branded nut-and-fruit-based snack bars commonly sold at Starbucks, in grocery stores, and at convenience stores.
A controlling stake in Kind was purchased by candy company Mars in 2020, but Lubetzky reportedly maintains his financial stake in the company and continues to work there, although some of his time and attention is devoted to other pursuits, including Camino Partners (his investment company), various nonprofit and advocacy pursuits, and, of course, “Shark Tank.”
But how did he get to where he is today?
Lubetzky’s parents, early life & education
Lubetzky described his mother, Sonia, who was born in Tampico, Mexico, as the “outgoing, bridge-builder in our family.” His father, Roman, was from Poland and survived first in a Jewish Ghetto and then in the Dachau concentration camp during the holocaust before moving to Mexico City with his father.
While growing up in Mexico City, Lubetzky began working for a textile wholesaler at age 12, but his family soon relocated to San Antonio, Texas, where his father’s duty-free store chains were headquartered. During his teen years stateside, Lubetzky performed odd jobs and sold watches at kiosks, a venture he carried with him during his undergraduate education in economics and international relations at Trinity University.
In 1990, Lubetzky graduated from Trinity (magna cum laude) before attending Stanford Law School, where he earned his JD in 1993. He received a Haas Koshland Fellowship and traveled to Tel Aviv to “research and write about fostering joint ventures between Arabs and Israelis,” according to the Horatio Alger Association.
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Peaceworks
The culmination of this fellowship was a paper titled, “Incentives for Peace and Profits: Federal Legislation to Encourage U.S. Enterprises to Invest in Arab-Israeli Joint Ventures,” in which Lubetzky advocates for the creation of laws that would incentivize U.S. companies to invest in Middle Eastern business ventures that involve both Arab and Israeli partners.
After completing this fellowship, he interned briefly with the McKinsey & Company law firm in Mexico City, but upon being offered a full-time, permanent role with the firm, he opted instead pursue the focus he cultivated during his fellowship by creating Peaceworks, a company designed to embody the ideals outlined in Lubetzky’s fellowship thesis.
Peaceworks initially focused on marketing and selling a sundried tomato paste created in an Israeli factory staffed with Palestinian workers using Turkish tomatoes and jars from Egypt. That condiment brand is now called Meditalia, and its website states that its products are “made possible through business partnerships among Israelis & Arabs.”
Kind Snacks
According to Lubetzky, the idea for Kind Bars was born out of the busy lifestyle he led while trying to get Peaceworks off the ground. He would often skip meals while hustling around Manhattan and had trouble finding a healthy, satisfying, and delicious meal-replacement snack at grocery stores. As a result, he began importing and selling fruit, nut, and yogurt-based snack bars from a company he had come across in Australia.
Eventually, this company was sold, and its new owner began incorporating artificial ingredients into the recipe, so Lubetzky created Kind and began producing healthful snack bars of his own using “whole nuts, whole fruits, whole grains.” These were originally created by hand, in stark contrast to the dominant snack bars of the era, known as “slab bars,” in which ingredients were pulverized and then extruded into a uniform slab of homogenous material.
According to Lubetzky, the company was started with investments of around $100,000 from close friends. Over the course of a few years, the company grew, and it eventually garnered a private equity investment of around $5 million, but according to Lubetzky, the company was already profitable, so much of this investment was kept as cash on Kind’s balance sheet.
Eventually, Lubetzky’s private investor pushed him to sell the company, which he was not ready to do. Instead, he bought the investor’s stake back and continued to manage the company’s operations.
Eventually, however, Lubetzky did sell a majority Stake in the company to Mars due to the snack giant’s international reach and ability to scale the brand more effectively in foreign markets, but he remains financially invested and continues to serve as Kind’s Chief Impact Officer.
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Who is Daniel Lubetzky’s wife?
Daniel Lubetzky married his wife, Michelle Lubetzky (formerly Lieberman) in the early spring of 2008, not long before Kind pulled in its $5 million private equity investment. At the time, she was completing her residency and preparing for a nephrology fellowship at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Like her husband, Dr. Lubetzky graduated her undergraduate studies magna cum laude. According to her profile page on Ascension, she now practices primarily in Austin, Texas, and continues to specialize in Kidney health. Dr. and Mr. Lubetzky share four children.
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