Barbara Corcoran is known for being a "shark" on ABC's Shark Tank, so it comes as no surprise that her estimated net worth is sky-high—$100 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The New Jersey-born businesswoman and TV personality rose to her TC investor status thanks to her background in real estate. In 1973, as a 23-year-old, she was working as a receptionist at the Giffuni Brothers real estate firm in New York City. Eager to start her own real estate business, Corcoran borrowed $1,000 from her boyfriend, Ray Simone, to found Corcoran-Simone. She later took control of the firm and renamed it The Corcoran Group. She sold the company to National Realty Trust for $66 million in 2001. Since then, Corcoran has written multiple books, hosted podcasts, and made more than 130 deals on Shark Tank.
As befits a real estate mogul, Corcoran has resided in many impressive homes. From a penthouse on New York City’s Upper East Side to a luxury mobile home in California, hereare some of the extravagant properties she's owned.
1994: Corcoran Secures a Fire Island House for $75,000
Corcoran's real estate moves certainly began before 1994, but that year, she secured a pretty good deal on a home in the Saltaire neighborhood of New York’s Fire Island. The owner of the home was an elderly artist whose house survived some damage from a storm. "I asked his relatives what they wanted for the house," Corcoran told the New York Post. "I paid $75,000 for it on the spot and moved in early April 1994."
1999: Corcoran’s Real Estate Portfolio Consists of a Co-op, Summer House, and Country Residence
Barbara Corcoran and Bill Higgins.
In 1999, New York Magazine published a feature on Corcoran titled "Barb Wired." Back then, according to the story, Corcoran and her second husband Bill Higgins, who she's been married to since 1988, were living in Manhattan in a "classic-six co-op on 72nd Street between Lexington and Third" avenues. At the time, they also shared the Fire Island house and a place in Pawling, New York. Often referred to as Corcoran’s country residence, the Pawling property was a converted 19th-century schoolhouse where she held massive parties (think events with horse-drawn carriages, a rented elephant, and pig roasts). That four-bedroom, three-bathroom home spanned more than 2,600 square feet. Corcoran reportedly lived in Pawling, at least part time, for 35 years. She put the Pawling home on the market for $545K in 2012. You can see a few snapshots of the home here.
2001: Corcoran Buys a $3.5 Million Park Avenue Pad
A few months before Corcoran sold her real estate empire, she and Higgins bought a three-bedroom, 2,700-square-foot apartment in a co-op building at 1192 Park Avenue for $3.5 million. The Upper East Side residence boasted cozy, cottage vibes. She sold the home for $4.87 million in 2016. After selling her company, Corcoran also reportedly bought her parents a penthouse condo in Florida.
2015: Corcoran Moves Into a $10 Million Fifth Avenue Penthouse
In 2015, Corcoran and Higgins purchased a $10 million penthouse on the Upper East Side. The 11-room duplex initially hit the market in 2013 for $14.5 million. The dreamy home has a solarium off of the kitchen, a landscaped terrace, and unbeatable views of Central Park from its very own swing. "Growing up in a working-class neighborhood in New Jersey, I never dreamed of having a penthouse, but I did dream I would have my own swing," Corcoran told House Beautiful in 2017. She continued: "Our knot rope in the side yard was where I went to get away from nine siblings for a little bit of peace! Now I start the day with a cup of coffee in my rope swing; it’s only 15 minutes, but it feels like an eternity. Or I sit here at sunset and appreciate what was good about the day, and what I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It’s not a place where you make a to-do list."
Corcoran gave a tour of the home to content creator Caleb Simpson, who is known for house tours, in 2022. She still owns the dreamy residence and gives glimpses into it on social media, including of her terrace views at sunset!
2018: Corcoran Invests in a $1 Million California Mobile Home
Corcoran's home tours with Simpson didn’t stop there. In 2023, the pair took viewers inside her California mobile home. "Here's my Taj Mahal," she said of the home during the tour. "Everything's little."
Located in Malibu's Paradise Cove neighborhood, which has been called "America’s priciest trailer park," the double-wide trailer wasn't even for sale when Corcoran purchased it roughly five years before the tour. When she knocked on the door to ask if the owner would sell, they told her they'd sell in a year. But Corcoran didn't want to wait. She explained in the video: "I said, 'What if you could use it whenever you want?' But she said, 'What you do mean? Next year?' I said, 'Whenever you want you, you come back and use the place for your life. She's about my age. She said, 'Yeah, that would be good,' and she sold it to me. I’ve gotten a lot of vacation homes with that line."
She purchased the home for $800,000 and spent $150,000 on renovations. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom trailer features leftover blue-and-white kitchen tile from Corcoran's New York home and a sizable outdoor space with ocean views. Corcoran revealed that she likes the mobile home more than her New York home because it's quaint and by the water.
2019: Corcoran Buys a $3.3 Million Fire Island Home
In 2019, Corcoran confirmed a TMZ report that she put her Fire Island home on the market for just under $3 million—and purchased a new one. But Fire Island hasn't seen the last of Barb! The outlet reported that she bought a new summer home right next door to her first one for $3.3 million.
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