'Shark Tank' contestant gets all five sharks to agree on a massive $1 million deal in rare TV moment
Investors on “Shark Tank” are interactive and also friendly when founders are presenting innovative products, but grill them and make it challenging for them when it comes to negotiating a deal. But it's rare when all sharks go out of their way to put their money in a business. Charles Michael Yim arrived on the show seeking $250,000 for 10% of his business, and the sharks were quite impressed with his product. At the time, he had invented perhaps the first of its kind smartphone breathalyzer called Breathometer. One simply had to buy the pocket-sized device, plug it into the audio jack socket in a smartphone, download the app, and breathe into the device. It would then determine whether the user had too much to drink to be able to drive around.
That’s not all, Yim had even said at the time that he was working on a sensor for halitosis and diabetes. This had the sharks impressed, even though the company had only collected $140,000 from a crowdfunding campaign. This product had a ton of potential and, with the right business partners, could turn into something special.
Mark Cuban, at the time, had a lot of experience working with companies in the sensor industry. He was, by far, the most competent shark for this particular product. Therefore, he offered to pay $500,000 to Yim for 20% of the business. However, he simply would not work with anyone else. Lori Greiner asked if he would be willing to collaborate with her on a deal, and Cuban unceremoniously shut her down.
Greiner then teamed up with Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec. The three of them together offered $750,000 for 30% of the business. Yim had made it clear at this point that he would like all five sharks involved, as he wanted to raise a million dollars within 60 days. With all five sharks, that could happen immediately. “I don’t want to work with the other sharks,” Cuban quickly said.
Daymond John said that he would be open to doing a deal with the other sharks only if Cuban were a part of it. The rest of the sharks agreed to give Cuban the majority share so that he’d be open to taking a more collaborative approach.
The final offer that was tabled was a million dollars for 30% of the company. Cuban would give $500,000 of it, and the other four sharks would pay the other $500,000. Of the 30%, Cuban would get 15%, and the remaining 15% would be split equally among the other four. This offer was good enough for Yim, who accepted. It’s a shame that many years later, he was slagged off by Cuban, who showed the most belief in his product.
“The guy – Charles – I’d look at his Instagram and he’d be in Bora Bora ... Two weeks later, he’d been in [Las] Vegas partying, and then he’d be on Necker Island with Richard Branson,” Cuban told "CNBC Make It." “I’d text him, like ‘What the f--- are you doing? You’re supposed to be working,’” he added.
