Tickets Still Available for ‘Shark Tank’ Star O’Leary’s Hill Lecture at WT

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, [email protected]

CANYON, Texas - Limited tickets remain for the 2026 Hill Institute Lecture at West Texas A&M University, featuring Kevin O'Leary, Mr. Wonderful from ABC's hit show "Shark Tank."

O'Leary will present "Lessons from a Shark: Liberty, Responsibility and the Entrepreneurial Spirit" for the Hill Institute Lecture series at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 in the First United Bank Center on WT's Canyon campus.

Tickets are $5 and available at wtamu.edu/HillLecture.

O'Leary's success story began in his native Canada. In 1986, he founded SoftKey Software Products, later to be called The Learning Company, in his Toronto basement. Under O'Leary's leadership, the company became a giant in its sector before it was acquired for $4.2 billion.

In 2000, O'Leary founded O'Leary Ventures, a generalist venture capital investment platform that has since invested in start-ups and early-stage companies across virtually every sector.

In 2003, he co-founded Storage Now, a leading developer of climate-controlled storage facilities, which was later acquired for $110 million. His next investment, Stream Global Services, was later acquired for $820 million.

In 2006, O'Leary joined the Canadian cast of "Dragon's Den," the international business reality show and forerunner of the U.S. "Shark Tank" franchise. His tough critiques and brutal honesty made him a popular judge. In 2009, he was invited to join the founding cast of ABC's "Shark Tank," alongside Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran. "Shark Tank" continues to be one of the most popular television programs of all time, garnering multiple awards and nominations, including four Emmy awards.

In 2025, he made his acting debut in the movie "Marty Supreme" alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Timothée Chalamet.

A strong believer in financial education and fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs, O'Leary is the author of a bestselling series of books: "Cold Hard Truth; Men, Women and Money" and "Family, Kids and Money."

He has spoken to future entrepreneurs at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Notre Dame, Waterloo and McGill. Corporate speaking audiences have included Ernst & Young, MassMutual, First Third Bank, Constant Contact, Comcast, Zendesk, Cisco Systems, National Conference of State Legislatures and ExxonMobil.

Named for Joseph A. Hill, the second president of WT and its longest-serving leader, the Hill Institute centers on 10 values: trust, family life, hard work, regard for others, personal responsibility, compatriotism and patriotism, virtue, faith, personal and civic loyalty, and rugged individualism.

The Institute is funded through philanthropic dollars rather than government funding.

About West Texas A&M University

West Texas A&M University is a Regional Research University in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of about 9,000 and offers multiple options for students to graduate and succeed: 65 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 41 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor's and master's degree, a specialist degree and three doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men's and women's athletics programs.

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