Former NFL star ends up losing home after his dream 'Shark Tank' deal went horribly wrong

"Shark Tank" is popular among viewers because it promises everyone a shot at success as long as they have innovative ideas and business acumen. But while success stories of entrepreneurs who bagged investments on the show are well known, people rarely talk about those who failed despite support from sharks. When former NFL star Al 'Bubba' Baker got himself a deal on “Shark Tank” in 2013, it was supposed to be the pathway to success for him. Daymond John invested $300,000 in his company Bubba’s Q Boneless Ribs as per a report in Meaww. For Baker, getting his business going was a big deal since he had given up once before coming to the reality TV show and gave it another shot thanks to his daughter.

Little did he know that fate had something else in store for him. Baker and his daughter Brittani had Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary, fighting to fund the business. They decided to partner up with John since he was asking for a lesser share of the business than Mr. Wonderful. As the years went by, things deteriorated to a point where the investor had to file a restraining order against the father-daughter duo.

Reports suggest that while the business made $16 million in profits, the entrepreneurs only got $659,653, which was less than 5% of their total sales. The Bakers also claimed that John and his partners misled them and took over their business. They even made it hard for customers to buy the boneless ribs and stopped its promotion which further hindered the business.

In the end, the Bakers were in such a financial mess that they were forced to shut their restaurant down and drain all their savings just to survive. But even that wasn’t enough after a point of time and they even had to sell their family home. There is more than one person that the family has blamed for the downfall of the business but they say most of it was due to Daymond John.

Bubba isn’t the only one who has made such a claim against John. An earlier contestant on the show named Alan Kaufman also struck a deal with the investor and Kevin Harrington for a product called Nubrella. As per a report in the Boston Globe, the deal was struck for $200,000 in 2010. Back then, the entrepreneur had said that he would “live and die” with the investors, but things did not turn out so well.

“For the first six months, it was great exposure. But I never knew they’d be running reruns for six years after Nubrella has gone through a massive transformation,” Kaufman said. “They didn’t even bother doing diligence. They just blew the whole thing off.”

Things got so bad between the parties that it led to a lawsuit which was settled for $20,000. The investor denied that he had done anything wrong and stated that such cases are not uncommon when public figures like himself and Harrington get involved in some businesses.