ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

'Shark Tank' judges were offered $96 billion in profit by a man with a bizarre pitch — it went as expected

The Texas inventor pitched a generator named after him on the third season of Shark Tank.
UPDATED DEC 14, 2024
Screenshots from the episode showing Sullivan pitch his device (Cover image source: YouTube | Abc Shark Tank/ Meme Master Yoda)
Screenshots from the episode showing Sullivan pitch his device (Cover image source: YouTube | Abc Shark Tank/ Meme Master Yoda)

Over its long run, "Shark Tank" has seen some of the craziest pitches. However, very few come close to the proposition made by a scientist who claimed he could create gold from seawater. Biomedical engineer and inventor Mark Sullivan pitched the idea of his electric generator that created gold as a by-product. Asking for $1 million in exchange for 10% of equity in his company, Sullivan promised that he would make the Sharks $96 billion in profits. While it sounded exciting, no one was interested in making a deal. 



 

The Texas inventor pitched a generator named after him on the third season of Shark Tank. After strutting confidently to the middle, Sullivan through a diagram and a model of the generator, explained to the sharks how his invention works. He claimed that the Sullivan Generator works by leveraging the earth's spin to produce electricity using seawater.

Screenshot from a video | YouTube | ABC/Meme Master Yoda
Screenshot from the episode showing the pitch (Image source: YouTube | ABC/Meme Master Yoda)

He said that the generator pulls up salt water from the sea and through the Coriolis effect, the water is spun in a chamber like a hurricane, leaving behind minerals and delivering vapor to a vortex chamber.  While this vapor worked the turbines to generate electricity, the other precipitates/byproducts would be minerals like manganese and gold. Sullivan boldly claimed that the generator would make $9 worth of gold with every cycle.

Screenshot from a video | YouTube | ABC Shark Tank/Meme Master Yoda
Screenshot from the episode showing the sharks (Image source: YouTube | ABC Shark Tank/Meme Master Yoda)

The Sharks were naturally in disbelief. The questions started flying in as everyone wondered how the machine would work. Eventually, one by one all of the sharks opted out of investing in Sullivan's idea and he walked out of the show without a deal. However, the proposal has gone down in TV history as one of the most memorable ones on the show. 



 

Sullivan's invention has been reviewed by many experts who have determined that the generator is flawed and would not work.

In a detailed YouTube video, Physics Odyssey breaks down the concept and claims of Sullivan. The creator explains that all three aspects of Sullivan's generator would not work and it may be a complete failure.



 

Despite this, Sullivan maintains that his invention is functioning and has published papers on it on his official website. On his website, he claims that the "revolutionary generator" is the first in history to use the constant rotation of the Earth and it will help the world achieve a truly sustainable source of energy. 

One of the other memorable pitches was from the owners of Haven Lock, Alex Bertelli, and Clay Banks, who pitched an impenetrable smart lock. The duo claimed that doors with ordinary locks were too easy to kick down.



 

Unlike Sullivan, they didn't just make the claim and went on to demonstrate this. One of the founders of the company tried to kick down a door on the stage to show how vulnerable they were. However, even after several attempts, he fails to make his claim stick. Due to the poor pitch, they got no offers, but it went down as one of the best pitches of the show.

This article originally appeared 2 months ago.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The player also brought his wife on the stage to cheer him as he played for a hefty prize.
4 hours ago
He also displayed the same expertise and ease to bounce back while solving puzzles.
23 hours ago
Carey was working with the contestant all along telling him to go higher and lower.
1 day ago
The round features four players bidding for items on the stage; however, not all of them get picked to enter the final games.
1 day ago
The co-founders of Bubbly Blaster made a clean pitch and bagged an easy deal from two Sharks.
1 day ago
The host himself and models on the show have been involved in such gaffes from time to time.
1 day ago
The guest who inherited a Fern Coppedge painting from her grandfather was blown away by its true value.
1 day ago
Harvey has also admitted that he is unable to recall names on his own show.
2 days ago
The comments didn't go down well with the rest of the panel and they didn't hold back.
2 days ago
The statue even triggered a bidding war when it went up for auction at Sotheby's.
2 days ago
The player who made his second appearance on the show did not let his excitement die.
2 days ago
The expert also shared tips on preserving the lampshade's value while transporting it.
3 days ago
Steve Harvey had to ask the contestant twice to make sure he got it right.
3 days ago
The guest who estimated it to be worth $5,000 got the shock of her lifetime.
3 days ago
As George Gray said, those wedding cans would look great hanging off her new car.
3 days ago
White was pitted against two other beautiful women, Summer Bartholomew, who was Miss USA 1975, and model Vicki McCarty, her friend.
4 days ago
The founder also went on to write an opinion piece slamming the shark for her behavior.
4 days ago
The pastor covered his mic and whispered something in Harvey's ear, making him awkward.
4 days ago
While the monetary value of the item was high for the expert, for the guest, the item was priceless.
4 days ago
The contestant kept trying to reassure Harvey as he tried to collect his thoughts.
4 days ago