Lori Greiner is worth $150 million thanks to her first invention—a jewelry organizer that made $1 million in revenue in its first year.
Updated Jul 25, 2023
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Lori Greiner knows a thing or two about marketing and sales. After studying communications and journalism at Loyola University Chicago, she made her first million by inventing a jewelry organizer that was sold at JC Penney and on the Home Shopping Network.
Nicknamed the Queen of QVC, Lori Greiner has an estimated net worth of $150 million. She’s also a serial inventor with over 120 patents. As a castmember of Shark Tank, she’s also invested in several successful companies from the show.
We take a look at Lori Greiner’s estimated $150 million portfolio, uncover the main sectors she’s invested in over the years, and define core values that guide her investing decisions.
Net worth | $150 million |
Born | December 9, 1969 |
Became a millionaire at | 27 |
Occupations | Entrepreneur |
Sources of wealth | Startups & inventions |
Asset classes | Consumer goods, food and beverage, health care, wellness and beauty, and education |
Lori Greiner was born in 1969 in Chicago, studied media at Loyola University Chicago, and had a stint as a journalist at the Chicago Tribune before becaming an inventor. Her first invention—a plastic jewelry organizer that stores 100 pairs of earrings—took off, and she paid back the initial $300,000 loan in just 18 months. The product reached $1 million in revenue in its first year, and Greiner subsequently sold it to JC Penney and the Home Shopping Network just in time for the Christmas season.
Lori Greiner’s million dollar idea helped her tap into the retail sector, leading to many other clever creations. She went on to found For Your Ease Only, which sold her first invention as well as several other accessories, innovative home products, and fragrances.
Inventor and entrepreneur Lori Greiner is worth an estimated $150 million.
Source: Wikimedia
After successfully marketing her products on the QVC television network, she became known as the Queen of QVC since the premier of her show Clever & Unique Creations in 2000.
In 2012, Lori Greiner joined ABC’s Shark Tank, alongside other millionaires like Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban, and Barbara Corcoran. She’s invested in 61 deals, or about 20% of the deals she’s heard. One of her best investments was Scrub Daddy, non-toxic, scratch-free sponge that is considered among the most successful stories Shark Tank history.
Greiner has also become a mentor to entrepreneurs, offering advice on how to pitch ideas and build businesses. She is a regular speaker at conferences, and in 2018, she released her first book, Invent it, Sell it, Bank it! She has been featured in a number of publications, including Forbes, and named one of the “Top 25 Most Influential Women in Business.” In 2017, she was inducted into the American Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Most of Lori Greiner’s investment portfolio consists of startups and businesses. A good portion include her personal business, as well as investments she’s made through ABC’s Shark Tank.
Based on publicly available data, we’ve determined the range of sectors the startups she invested in belong to. While Lori Greiner may invest in individual stocks or other alternative assets, we could not find any information on other types of assets she may invest in. As such, our analysis is mainly based on her personal business and startup investments.
As most of her businesses and Shark Tank ventures are in the retail space, it’s likely that most of her investment portfolio is made up of various consumer goods companies.
Based on the value of her stake in personal business and Shark Tank businesses, we estimate that her investment portfolio comprises at least 84% consumer goods, with 9% making up food and beverage companies and 4% in wellness and beauty. She also has an estimated 1% in healthcare and 1% in education.
Lori Greiner has over 120 U.S. and international patents and has created and marketed over 1,000 products, largely through her company For Your Ease Only. We don’t know exactly how much money she makes from her company, as it’s private.
However, considering that patents can sell for as little as $5,000 or as much as $1 million and her current net worth, we estimate that Lori Greiner’s personal business and patents are worth around $60 million.
Lori Greiner's jewelry box invention, which made $1 million in revenue in the first year.
Image source: youtube
Lori Greiner also invests in numerous private companies, largely through Shark Tank. Many of these are in the consumer goods sector, which is why we’ve estimated that the majority of her investments are in the consumer goods space.
While we won’t go into all of the companies she’s invested in, here is a quick overview of some of the larger investments she’s made:
While you might not be a shark-like Lori Greiner, you can invest in private companies and startups like she does. With Dizraptor, for example, accredited investors can put their money in private companies that are pre-IPO and middle-stage for as little as $1000.
Startups
Although Lori Greiner mostly invests in startups that are focused on retail and consumer goods, she also has a stake in companies in the food and beverages space including:
If you’re interested in the food and beverages sector, then you might want to look into fine wine investing. Wine has largely outperformed the stock market in the past year, with a return of 18% compared to the S&P 500's decline of over 10%.
Wine investing platforms like Vint and Vinovest make it easy to invest in high-grade investment wine. With Vinovest you have total control over the type of wine you invest, choosing what to buy and when to sell. It’s like the stock market, but for wine. With Vint you can invest in curated collections for as little as $50 a share.
Lori Greiner also invests in a few startups in the wellness and beauty space, although it only makes up an estimated 4% of her portfolio.
She’s invested in Kettle Gryp, a dumbbell adapter that is valued at $15 million, as well as Simply Fit Board, an exercise tool to build ab strength. With a 20% stake, that means $3 million of Lori Geriner's net worth is in Simply Fit Board.
She’s also invested in two other wellness and beauty brands—SleepStyler and SwipenSnap. SleepStyler is a hair styler that works while you sleep and made $25 million in revenue in one year. Lori Greiner owns 20% of the company, making her stake worth an estimated $1.25 million. Meanwhile, her stake in SwipenSnap, a beauty product applicator, is worth an estimated $300,000.
Lori Greiner makes $1.2 million per season of Shark Tank.
Image Source: cnbc.com
As we mentioned earlier, many of the companies that Lori Greiner has invested in are private, so we don’t know exactly how much she’s earned from her investments. But looking at sectors that are similar to the types of companies she invests in, we can get a sense of how these companies may have performed in the past year and past five years.
In the past year, a portfolio composed of consumer goods, food and beverages, healthcare, wellness and beauty, and education companies would have earned an estimated 3.83%, or 7.02% in the past five years.
In comparison, a traditional portfolio composed of 60% stock and 40% bonds would have fallen -13.84% over a year, and risen just 5.43% in the past five years.
While a portfolio based on Lori Greiner’s investments didn’t perform exceptionally well, it did perform better than a traditional portfolio. However, it was dragged down by poor performance in the wellness and beauty sector, as well as lackluster results in the main asset class, consumer goods. Meanwhile, the highest-performing sector was food and beverages.
The portfolio also had a relatively low beta, which suggests it was less volatile than the market overall, and a higher Sharpe ratio, indicating it provided higher returns for its level of risk. Overall, Lori Greiner's portfolio was a decent option, but investors should consider diversifying their investments and allocating capital to a variety of sectors for better performance.
Lori Greiner became a millionaire through her patents and inventions. As an investor, she is mostly focused on pouring money into early stage startups. With a keen eye for detail, she looks for companies that're solving a problem, no matter how small.
Lori Greiner lives by her motto that it is better to be an optimist than a pessimist. She believes that taking risks, being persistent, and believing in yourself and your product are the keys to success. She has a passion for helping entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality, and encourages them to work hard and learn from their mistakes. Having a good support system, networking, and staying organized are things that allowed her businesses to thrive.
Lori Greiner has invested in about half of all Shark Tank companies.
Image source: entrepreneur.com
Greiner values teams and listens to those around her. Her personal life is closely aligned with her investment values—her husband Dan Greiner is her company’s chief financial officer and the two even share a desk.
Her investment philosophy is to focus on sustainability, long-term stability, and consistent returns, and she seeks out those same qualities in her team members. She looks for people with a passion for their work and an understanding of the importance of collaboration.
She values the diverse perspectives of her team, and encourages them to take risks, experiment, and think outside the box. Ultimately, Greiner has created an environment where team-work, creativity, and growth are encouraged. Plus, she's passionate about uplifting fellow female entrepreneurs and investing to move their businesses forward.
Here are three key principles that Lori Greiner's net worth was built on.
Lori Greiner's net worth is tied up in things that have a purpose. Whether she’s investing or coming up with her next invention, she always asks herself how it will add value and help people.
People are what make a business, and having a great team can help create a successful business. Lori Greiner doesn’t just think about the products she’s investing in, but also the people behind them. She cares about the people she bets on.
Lori Greiner's net worth didn't reach seven figures through hasty decision making. When investing, it’s important to consider the input of others, especially experts. The best thing to do when investing is to research as much as possible and take in all the advice available before making a decision.
Lori Greiner has an estimated net worth of $150 million, which she earned from a combination of her jewelry business, startup investments, and her salary as a castmember of Shark Tank.
Lori Greiner got rich as an inventor and entrepreneur. Her first debt business venture of jewelry organizers made $1 million in revenue in the first year. She’s also made a lot of money as an investor and makes about $1.2 million per season of Shark Tank.
Lori Greiner lives in Chicago, Illinois. She owns a three-story townhouse in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Greiner also owns a vacation property in the Florida Keys. The exact location of her properties and their value is unknown.
Lori Greiner's net worth was built by inventing numerous retail products and she holds over 120 patents. Her first invention was a jewelry storage box, which she sold on the Home Shopping Network and at JC Penney, and made $1 million in revenue in its first year.
Lori Greiner made her money as an inventor, entrepreneur, speaker, and Shark Tank investor. She claims to have a 90% success rate on new items that are launched and invested in over half of the most successful companies on Shark Tank.
Lori Greiner's investing principles include researching the product, understanding the market, knowing the competition, tracking the financials, making sure the product is a good fit for the target market, and ensuring the product has a competitive advantage. Additionally, she advises entrepreneurs to have a plan for scaling the business, to be prepared to make sacrifices, and to stay informed on industry trends. Finally, she tells entrepreneurs to focus on one thing at a time, stay organized, and be persistent in pursuing their goals.