Apr 19, 2026
Businessman and TV personality Kevin O'Leary recently shared his thoughts on what America's most important export is – and it's not something you can add to your portfolio.
Speaking on Semafor's podcast (1) Mixed Signals, O'Leary was asked how long he would continue doing the reality TV show Shark Tank. O'Leary has appeared on all 17 seasons of the show, which began in 2009.
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O'Leary called the show a "very important platform," saying it was akin to an "ambassadorship" for him around the globe.
"I've said this many times: the No. 1 export of America is not technology, it's not energy, it's the American dream. And Shark Tank encapsulates the American dream beyond politics; it's bipartisan, it's the concept of being free to take a chance and create your own freedom down the road, which is the essence of the American dream that every country on Earth understands."
A favorite talking point?
It's not the first time O'Leary has uttered this idea about the American dream.
Last fall, when asked (2) about President Donald Trump's approach to trade and tariffs, O'Leary said that he has the same advice for every president: that their mandate should be "not to pick sectors in the economy."
"The less government we have, the better," O'Leary continued. "The No. 1 mandate of a U.S. president…is to uphold the American dream."
O'Leary also said it's an administration's job to "keep capitalism alive, because it works and it provides for everybody, even though it's volatile and it's got lots of problems, where else would you rather be? [...] Anything that hurts the American dream or messes with capitalism is bad."
O'Leary, often referred to as "Mr. Wonderful," also repeated his thoughts on the American dream when discussing billionaire wealth and rising inequality.
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When asked (3) whether the wealthy understood how the rest of Americans feel on On Balance with Leland Vittert, given a statistic (4) that the top 1% hold 32% of wealth, while the bottom 50% hold 2.5%, O'Leary said that he thought entrepreneurs weren't getting their due.
O'Leary said entrepreneurs weren't given credit for the "hundreds of thousands of jobs in America" they create, and that charitable giving by wealthy individuals was "lost in this narrative of inequality," citing a recent donation by Michael Dell.
"What's made the American economy work for over 200 years is entrepreneurship," O'Leary said.
Host Leland Vittert responded: "What people are saying is that much of the ruling class in America and the wealthy in America don't understand how hard the rest of America has it."
O'Leary replied by turning to California's proposed Billionaire Tax Act, which he called "[taking] a shot at the wealthy," and "Un-American."
He went on to repeat the importance of entrepreneurs: "When you talk about these wealthy people that you suggest may be tone deaf, most of them started with nothing. They pursued the American dream. They were wildly successful."
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Vittert then asked O'Leary why he thought the billionaire class was disdained now compared to in the past in America.
O'Leary replied that partisanship had grown, then pivoted back to his favourite adage. "The No. 1 export of America is not energy, it's not technology, it's the American dream. And that is exactly what entrepreneurship is. The idea that it's not the pursuit of greed and money — it's the pursuit of personal freedom," O'Leary said. "Only we can provide that by allowing entrepreneurs to do what they do."
Scholars have argued (5) that wealthy individuals may downplay or discount the role played by public institutions and public infrastructure when accounting for their own ability to gain success, believing instead in a "bootstraps alone" narrative.
And one study (6) found that, compared to wealthy individuals who were born rich, those who "became" rich were more likely to view improving one's socioeconomic standing as less difficult, and to have less empathy for the poor, and less support for redistribution of wealth.
Still, whatever the problem America is facing, whether it's tariffs or income inequality, it seems Mr. Wonderful is certain that the American dream will be the solution.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
YouTube (1),(3); X (formerly Twitter) (2); CNBC (4); Stanford University (5); National Institutes of Health (6)
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
