Shark Tank is returning to ABC for Season 11 and along with their return to TV comes a new shark in KIND Snacks founder and billionaire businessman Daniel Lubetzky.
Daniel Lubetzky founded KIND Snacks back in 2004 in New York though he came up with the concept for the healthy snack bars back in 2000. The snack bar made from fruit, nuts, and natural ingredients has been a big hit. So big that Lubetzky told Inc that, though sales started slow, a key point for entrepreneurs is not to give up too quickly. It took 15 years of hard work before KIND Snacks became a huge success.
Lubetzky, the son of a Holocaust survivor, was born in Mexico City, Mexico and now calls New York City his home. Born in 1968, the KIND Snacks founder is also a philanthropist. He began his idea for PeaceWorks back in college at Trinity University in San Antonio with his 268-page thesis titled The Influence of Economic Factors in Resolving the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
Daniel Lubetzky earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and International Relations from Trinity University. He then headed to Stanford Law School and received his Juris Doctor in 1993, though he didn’t end up practicing law.
Instead, the KIND Snacks founder received the Haas Koshland Fellowship, which allowed him to write legislation in his effort to bring peace to Arabs and Israelis. It was during his work in this arena that he ended up founding PeaceWorks.
PeaceWorks is considered to be a “not-only-for-profit” venture, meaning that it is not a non-profit but that the company works to be profitable and to bring peace to the Middle East.
In fact, it was because of Lubetzsky’s frequent travels abroad that KIND Snacks was born. Unhappy with the snack choices and wanting healthier options, he decided to create a healthy snack bar that was also delicious. Little did he know at the time, but KIND Snacks became the fastest-growing snack company in the U.S.
Due to his success in both business and philanthropy, and likely because of his ability to merge the two, Daniel Lubetzky is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion. That net worth makes him the perfect choice to join the Shark Tank team. While “guest-sharking,” we can expect Lubetzky to choose to invest in companies that promote the same ideals that he has.
Shark Tank airs Sundays at 9/8c on ABC.
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