Kevin O’Leary accuses Lori Greiner of 'greed' in dramatic 'Shark Tank' showdown over laundry brand deal
When 'Shark Tank' investors see potential in a business, they stop at nothing to close a deal. During Season 13 of 'Shark Tank,' Cyndi Bray, founder of Wad-Free—a product that prevents sheets from tangling in the washer or dryer—presented her pitch to the Sharks: Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O'Leary. Eventually, Bray won over O'Leary and Greiner with her innovative bedsheet detangler, while the other Sharks dropped out. In the end, O'Leary and Greiner had a huge clash to get a deal. In the end, O'Leary convinced Greiner to step aside by lowering his equity ask, sealing the $200,000 deal.
In the episode, Bray was seeking $200,000 in exchange for 5% of her company. During her pitch, Bray explained, "Sharks, there is a maddening problem laundry doers face every time they wash their sheets: that problem is dealing with the terrible wad. First up, the tornado wad, yeah that tangled mess isn't clean. Next we have the hostage taker wad, where the soggy items get trapped in the fitted sheet, and then there's the burrito wad, where one sheet wraps itself over everything else in the load and nothing inside dries there."
Bray further added, "There has never been a solution to this wasteful and annoying problem until now, introducing my invention, Wad-Free for bedsheets. The first-ever wad preventer for the washing machine and the dryer attaches to the four corners of both the flat and the fitted sheet before you put them in the washing machine, where the load runs wad-free. Everything comes out cleaner, and the washer won't go off balance." Bray told the Sharks that her company had generated $513,000 in sales since launching in June 2020. Then, Bray stated that the manufacturing cost of one bedsheet detangler was $3.50, and she sold it for $18.99, making a 38% profit. Along with this, Bray mentioned that she sold her product from her official website, Amazon, Walmart, and The Grommet.
Cuban was the first to back out, saying he doesn’t do laundry, so the product wasn’t for him. Soon after, Herjavec backed out as he had no idea about the laundry market. On the other hand, O'Leary seemed keen to invest in Wad-Free. "I like simple solutions. I like the story, here's an offer," O'Leary said, as per Market Realist. O'Leary offered $200,000 for 10% plus a $1.50 per unit royalty until he got back $1 million.
Greiner made an offer after John dropped out. Greiner offered $200,000 but for 25%. Then, O'Leary referred to Greiner as a savage for being greedy, and she went on to say, "I am not savage! I know how to make millionaires. It's what I do! So that's my offer. I want to be in it with you day in and day out and blow this up." At that point, Bray asked Greiner if she could lower her equity to 10%. Before reducing her equity to 20%, Greiner quipped, "You know, honestly, what I'm offering you is like gold." Shortly after, O'Leary chimed in, "I really do not like greed, and when I see Lori getting greedy like this and putting a lot of pressure on the deal to make her be less greedy to be a better Lori." To secure the deal, O'Leary decreased his equity ask to 5%, and Bray accepted his offer.
