Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary doesn’t mind if the employees at his 54 companies work from home — which he certainly doesn’t think is “immoral.”
When the Canadian entrepreneur was asked if working from home was unethical –It is said to be worth $400 million—simply “No” was answered.
It follows a rant from Tesla owner Elon Musk and Twitter, who questioned whether it was the “moral right” for some people to work from home while others, such as delivery drivers and factory workers, could not.
“(She’s) messed up,” Musk said in an interview. CNBC. It is a productivity issue but also an ethical issue. People should get off their moral high horse with their home business because they are asking everyone not to work from home while they are doing it.”
O’Leary is more open to politics – a tactic that could make him more popular with employees, As a recent study from McKinsey & Company It found that 87% of the American workforce would choose to work somewhat flexibly if given the opportunity.
McKinsey added, “Employers are wise to invest in technology, adapt policies, and train employees to create workplaces that integrate people who work remotely and onsite.”
“The World Has Changed” O’Leary he told CNN. The economy has changed, the work ethic has changed. We went through an extraordinary period during the pandemic – the idea of dividing headquarters and allowing people to leave headquarters to work from home was not considered. It was considered too risky.
“It is now a proven and effective method or project management.”
O’Leary highlighted that Musk’s situation differs from many of the companies he owns: “In the case of Elon, to be fair about what he’s talking about, when you’re at a highly engineered company like Tesla or SpaceX, I get the idea that you want collaboration between engineers.
“They just sit around trying to solve design problems or whatever.”
However, O’Leary said that fact is “unrelated” to the 10 other sectors of the economy that have already made the decision to experiment with more hybrid business models.
Breaking Hybrid Math
O’Leary highlighted that his 54 companies operate in nearly every state and sector, and said that 40% of those companies “never go back” to the office.
He added, “Before the pandemic, I was very fortunate to use the investment portfolio to generate 15% pre-tax free cash flow. Today, that same portfolio, post-pandemic, with 40% of employees working remotely worldwide, would save 17.5%.” Free Cash This is a 20% increase in free cash flow.
“So you can’t tell me this isn’t working, in fact, I want to do more of this because I’m lowering my real estate costs.”
Shark tank makeover
In preparation for the start of the 15th season of Shark Tank, O’Leary said economic shifts have affected the number of entrepreneurs approaching him for investment.
“We have a record number of orders and there is one reason for that. It goes back to 2008 when we started. There is no venture capital money available at the moment. The entire banking system is closed because of Silicon Valley and other failures and this period of high interest rates,” he explained.
“We’re going to see an amazing influx of deals this year – far greater than ever before – but terms, I’m licking my chops.”