Are The Investors Paid To Be On Shark Tank?

While the entrepreneurs provide the products and the drama that make "Shark Tank" interesting for viewers, it's the investors, or sharks, who provide the capital that makes their dreams come true. But although each of the sharks brings a sizable fortune of their own to the show to invest as they see fit, are they paid by ABC to appear on the show? According to a 2016 report from Variety, the sharks are each paid about $50,000 per episode to appear on "Shark Tank." 

For FUBU founder Daymond John and inventor Lori Greiner, that $50,000 sum might seem like mere pocket change. However, it no doubt goes a long way toward defraying the costs of traveling to and from the show's Las Vegas filming location. 

Still, that $50,000 per episode number pales in comparison to some of television's highest-paid stars. The same report from Variety noted that the stars of "The Big Bang Theory" — Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, and Johnny Galecki — each made around $1 million per episode while the series was still in production. With this in mind, it's no wonder that the salary paid to the sharks has been the subject of intense negotiations over the years.

Considering the negotiating "Shark Tank" fans see on screen, it makes sense that there are behind-the-scenes negotiations during the production of the series. And the stars' salaries have been at the heart of some of these heated negotiations. 

Back in 2014, when "Shark Tank" was in its sixth season, Business Insider reported on contentious salary negotiations between Mark Cuban's attorney, Robert Hart, and Sony Television President Steve Mosko. Cuban had been paid $30,000 per episode in Season 5 and was being offered a raise of about $1,200 per episode for each of the following two seasons. The network also reportedly wanted the rights to Cuban's catchphrases, nicknames, and the like, and sought to require him to promote the show on multiple networks.

Cuban balked at the offer and requests and responded tersely and defiantly. "Seriously?" Cuban wrote in an email response. "No chance... this is beyond an insult and it shows no one cares about the investments I have made or the entrepreneurs."

The article also compared Cuban's salary at the time to that of other ABC reality network stars. Bruno Tonioli, a judge on "Dancing With the Stars," made $30,000 per hour, and Chris Harrison, who hosted "The Bachelor," made $50,000 per hour. 

Ultimately, however, both parties must have struck a deal, as Cuban has remained a fixture on the series since joining the show in Season 3.