TORONTO – Canadian television personality and financial expert Kevin O’Leary is leaving the CBC to become an on-air contributor at Bell Media starting next month.
O’Leary first joined CBC News Network in August of 2009, joining his long-time BNN co-host Amanda Lang to launch The Lang & O'Leary Exchange. He is also well known for his role on Dragons’ Den and its American version Shark Tank. In addition, he leads a group of financial companies, is chairman of O’Leary Funds, the founder of O’Leary Fine Wines and a bestselling author for his Cold Hard Truth series of books promoting financial literacy for Canadian families. Previously, O'Leary founded and was president of SoftKey (later called The Learning Company), a global educational software company, and negotiated its $4 billion acquisition by Mattel.
Effective September 1st, O’Leary will lend his unique and colourful commentary to a variety of Bell Media programs and properties, including BNN, Canada AM, ETalk, The Marilyn Denis Show, and The Social, as well as various digital platforms. He will also be heard on radio stations 580 CFRA, CJAD 800, and NEWSTALK 1010, among others.
“I am excited to be joining Bell Media, as CTV is where I first started my television career,” O’Leary said in the Bell Media news release. “I look forward to working with some of Canada’s finest producers to maintain the dialogue about capitalism, entrepreneurialism, and family finance that we need to have as a nation.”
In a separate news release, CBC said that senior business correspondent Amanda Lang will host a new and yet unnamed business program replacing The Lang & O'Leary Exchange on CBC News Network and CBC Television starting this fall.
"I want to thank Kevin for all of his contributions to CBC News throughout his time with us”, said Jennifer McGuire, CBC News’ general manager and editor in chief, in the release. “While sometimes controversial, you could always count on him to provide honest insight and a unique perspective. It's been a pleasure working with him and I wish him all the best in his new ventures"
