Jimmy Kimmel once brought a horse on 'Shark Tank' — and then came his wild pitch no one expected
Talk shows and reality shows keep fans glued to tv screens and often compete for viewership. But reality TV stars are also often seen on talk shows, ans sometimes even talk show hosts also make cameos. One of the most popular late-night talk show hosts of all time, Jimmy Kimmel is a man of many talents, and that includes impressing investors on "Shark Tank." Kimmel once dived in with the sharks while trying to net an investment for his ingenious business. What's more surprising is that he even bagged a multi-million dollar deal.
The "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Host entered the tank alongside his loyal sidekick Guillermo. Facing the esteemed panel of investors including Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, and Robert Hervajec, Kimmel shared a personal story that led to the creation of his unique product.
"I took my family to a petting zoo and I was disturbed by what I saw and more importantly what my family saw," Kimmel shared. "Every animal there was naked," he added. To solve this problem, he came up with the idea of "Horse Pants". The talk show host then brought in a real horse onto the set, wearing his company's pants.
Kimmel explained that the horse pants market had tremendous potential to grow as there was no such product available. He finally put forward his ask of $500,000 for a 10% stake in the company. He further shared several designs for his horse pants and handed out samples to the Sharks. Naturally, the cunning investors weren't thrilled by the product but they wanted to know more.
The first question Kimmel faced was how much did he invest in the business. "I have invested $41,000 all of which went to my mother who makes these pants from her basement," he joked in response.
O'Leary as always, was keen to know more about the numbers. Pointing at the $5 million valuation, the Shark asked how much the business had made till that point. The answer is a big $0 left the panel in splits.
Herjavec was the next Shark to ask a question. Wanting to know about Kimmel's business acumen, he asked how did he plan to grow the business in the coming few years. Kimmel quickly huddled with his partner and after an intense discussion he said, "We're going to pass on that question".
When it came to making offers, Cuban was the first to chime in. "Jimmy, I think you ought to take this one out behind the barn and shoot it. I'm out!" he said. However, not all was lost for Kimmel. He still had one Shark who was very much interested in making a deal and he probably believed in the idea more than Guillermo did.
"Whoa, Jimmy! I like it. I think in all the six years I've been up here this is my one opportunity to make more money than Mark Cuban," said none other than Robert Herjavec.
The Shark went on to make an offer that was too good to pass. He put not $500,000 but a whopping $5 million on the table for just 10% of Horse Pants. Kimmel may have been silly to pitch the idea but he wasn't silly enough to let the deal go.
In the end, Herjavec and Kimmel shook hands to seal the deal and the iconic duo of Kimmel and Guillermo walked out of the tank with $5 million.
