Every week, billionaire Mark Cuban shares his advice with aspiring entrepreneurs on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Now, the Shark has some advice for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as the couple a step away from their roles as working senior royals.
Cuban believes there is a potential for the couple to make “an ungodly amount of money” in their new life.
“As long as they stay authentic, as long as they limit their projects and don’t try to sell everything and anything, then I think they are the new Obamas,” Cuban said on “Harry & Meghan: The Royals In Crisis,” the upcoming TV show from TMZ and Fox.
“They will have such a valuable brand that they will be able to pick and choose whatever they want to do…. They’re gonna be living the dream,” Cuban said.
Post White House, Barack and Michelle Obama have made millions from speaking engagements, writing and even inking a deal with Netflix. The couple reportedly earned more than $65 million for their joint book deal with Penguin Random House, according to the Financial Times. (The first book, “Becoming,” from Michelle Obama was the best selling book of 2018. The former president’s book is forthcoming.)
Some experts say Prince Harry and Markle have the potential to earn even more.
“They are 100% more valuable than the Obamas,″ Jonathan Shalit, a celebrity agent and chairman of London-based InterTalent Rights Group, told The Associated Press, adding that the Sussexes may become a billion-dollar brand.
“The Obamas aren’t royal. They are.”
However, not every agent agrees.
“A deal that approaches the Obamas is not likely,” David Black, president of the David Black Agency, told CNBC Make It. Still any book payday would be significant, he says.
Outside of the literary world, brands including Netflix and Disney have already expressed interest in working with the Sussexes – in 2019, Prince Harry announced plans to create a series for Apple TV on mental health with Oprah Winfrey to air this year. And Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, told Britain’s Press Association he would want to speak with the couple, saying: “Who wouldn’t be interested [in working with them]?”
“Harry and Meghan are incredibly marketable,” Cuban said in a preview of Fox and TMZ’s Royals TV special.
“If either of them came on ‘Shark Tank,’ I wouldn’t even wait for them to pitch. I’d be like ‘I’m in. Whatever you want, yes,’ because they’re so marketable.”
“It would be so easy to develop products and projects for them, with them, and around them,” Cuban said.
Cuban’s fellow Shark Barbara Corcoran agrees.
“In Harry & Meghan’s attempt to break from the limelight, they’ve succeeded in making themselves more newsworthy than ever before,” Corcoran tweeted Wednesday. “And hey @mcuban, if you’re looking for a second shark to go in on that deal, you know who to call…”
Forbes estimates that Markle currently has a $2.2 million net worth, mostly from her acting career. Markle earned up to $85,000 per episode on USA’s “Suits,” Forbes reports.
Prince Harry, on the other hand, is reportedly worth about £30 million, or $39 million, largely due to his inheritance from his late mother, Princess Diana.
This article first appeared on CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/29/mark-cuban-shares-advice-for-prince-harry-and-meghan-markle.html?__source=newsletter%7Cmakeit and is republished with its permission
