26The Conservative party came out of last year’s election in rough shape: leaderless, widely reviled and greatly diminished. At times like these, unpredictable things can happen—which is why the party took Kevin O’Leary seriously when he intimated that he might run for the leadership. O’Leary, the cackling gargoyle of ABC’s Shark Tank, may not really be giving up his TV gigs for Ottawa, but he has shown keen instincts for establishing himself as a right-wing power broker. A weakened Tory organization might be willing to invest in Mr. Wonderful—just to see what happens.
Up next:
He’ll use his media skills to promote the IllumiBowl, a toilet-bowl nightlight he invested in during an episode of Shark Tank.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/toronto-50-most-influential-2016-kevin-oleary/&title=Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #26, Kevin O’Leary&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/kevin-oleary.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_405193" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Kevin O'Leary [/caption]
Kevin O’Leary
TV personality
26The Conservative party came out of last year’s election in rough shape: leaderless, widely reviled and greatly diminished. At times like these, unpredictable things can happen—which is why the party took Kevin O’Leary seriously when he intimated that he might run for the leadership. O’Leary, the cackling gargoyle of ABC’s Shark Tank, may not really be giving up his TV gigs for Ottawa, but he has shown keen instincts for establishing himself as a right-wing power broker. A weakened Tory organization might be willing to invest in Mr. Wonderful—just to see what happens.
Up next: He’ll use his media skills to promote the IllumiBowl, a toilet-bowl nightlight he invested in during an episode of Shark Tank.
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