Shark Tank cast: who the Sharks are in season 18

Catch Shark Tank on Hulu this fall and the panel may not match the one you remember. Shark Tank is an ABC reality series where entrepreneurs pitch a panel of investors, the Sharks, for money in exchange for a share of the business. The Disney press site's Shark Tank page says it's now in its 18th season, and the Shark Tank cast has changed along the way.

The cast table puts each Shark's ABC bio line beside the press site's description. After the seven guest Sharks and their air dates come Mark Cuban's exit, where to watch, how to apply and fake casting emails.

Who is on the Shark Tank cast in season 18?

ABC's Shark Tank cast page lists eight Sharks, and the press site's season write-up names the same eight. The middle column below uses the press site's own description of each one. The last column is one line from that Shark's bio on abc.com, which matches the bio on the press site word for word.

Two of those bios haven't caught up with the calendar. Robert Herjavec's press bio says the show "is releasing its 17th season this fall." Season 18 is already airing. Barbara Corcoran's press bio still counts "the past 16 seasons." Both pages were live on November 4, 2026, one click from the season 18 cast page, so check a bio's title or season count against that page. The rest of Herjavec's bio holds up: it calls Herjavec an executive producer, and the press page's producer list includes Herjavec too.

Diagram by DigitalTreed, from ABC's Shark Tank cast page and the Disney press site, November 4, 2026.

The dashed ninth chair is for guest Sharks. The press site says they "will appear alongside the regular cast of Sharks in various episodes."

Guest Sharks in season 18

The press page says the 2026-2027 season will feature "more guest Sharks than ever before" and names seven of them. Each has a bio on the press site's Shark Tank bios page. ABC's episode press releases give the nights.

• Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast), creator of the YouTube channel MrBeast and founder of Beast Industries: the season premiere, Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
• Jeff Housenbold, chief executive officer of Beast Industries: the same premiere episode, "Beast Mode."
• Erin Foster and Sara Foster, co-founders of Favorite Daughter: "Favorite Daughters," the second hour on September 30.
• Steven Bartlett, a Dragon on "Dragons' Den" and host of "The Diary of a CEO": "Diary of a Shark," October 7.
• Mindy Kaling, writer, producer, director, actor and author: "The Mindy Project," October 14.
• J.J. Watt, founder of the Justin J. Watt Foundation and former NFL defensive lineman: no air date yet in the releases we read.

Premiere night ran two episodes back to back. "Beast Mode" started at 9:02 p.m. EDT and "Favorite Daughters" followed at 10:01 p.m. EDT, so the panel changed between the two hours. ABC's own recap of season 18, episodes 1 and 2 covers both, and the episode 3 recap confirms Bartlett "makes his guest Shark debut" there. Kaling's night is in the episode 4 recap. The press codes run out of order, too: Bartlett's October 7 hour is 1802, while the Fosters' hour on premiere night is 1803.

Diagram by DigitalTreed, from ABC press releases and ABC episode recaps, read November 4, 2026.

J.J. Watt is announced but not yet scheduled: none of the seven season 18 episode releases we read, from the premiere through "Hoop Dreams" on November 11, names Watt.

Past Sharks and earlier guest Sharks

Guest Sharks also sat in last season, and ABC's season 17 recaps still name four of them. Alexis Ohanian "makes his Guest Shark debut" in episode 4, and Allison Ellsworth "makes her Guest Shark debut" in episode 5. Michael Strahan "returns as Guest Shark" in episode 8. Fawn Weaver "makes her Guest Shark debut" in episode 12. Season 17's last new episode, the finale, first aired April 22, 2026, according to ABC's press release for its September rerun.

The bigger change is Mark Cuban. He isn't on ABC's season 18 cast page or in the press site's season 18 lineup. The Cuban bio on ABC's press site is still online, though, and says Cuban "first appeared as a Shark" on the show in 2011. The same bio says, "Season 16 (2024-2025) will be his final appearance on the series." It gives no reason, and neither do ABC's pages.

Sony Pictures Television, which works on the show with MGM Television, still shows the older panel. Its Shark Tank page, under a 2024 Sony Pictures Television copyright line, lists six Sharks: Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O'Leary. Daniel Lubetzky, Kendra Scott and Rashaun Williams aren't on Sony's page at all. Of the five it shares with ABC, Daymond John's ABC bio calls John "An original cast member" of the series.

Where to watch Shark Tank

ABC's current schedule puts new episodes on Wednesdays, 10:01-11:00 p.m. ET/PT, according to the press site's show page. ABC's own Shark Tank page shows the same slot as "WEDNESDAYS 10/9c" and says "Watch full episodes here & stream on Hulu." Each season 18 release we read adds "Stream episodes next day on Hulu," and for older seasons ABC's show page says "Full seasons of Shark Tank are on Hulu!" ABC reruns episodes too: the premiere was rebroadcast on Monday, November 2 at 10:00 p.m. EST, and the new episode on November 4 is "Kevin in a Head Lock."

Drawn by us, from ABC's Shark Tank page and ABC press releases, November 4, 2026.

For Hulu on a TV, our explainer on OTT boxes versus smart TVs compares the two setups.

How to apply to be on Shark Tank

To pitch your own business, start on ABC's apply page. It says plainly, "There are two ways to apply." The first is "Apply Online," which links to a casting site on castingcrane.com whose address names season 19. The second is "Attend an Open Call."

The eligibility rules sit on the official casting form, which loads in a normal browser, but our script got a 403 bot-block there, so we quote none of them.

The open call page was readable. As of November 4, 2026, it says, "All open casting calls for 2026 for Shark Tank are now closed." When open calls run again, you pitch for one minute to a member of the Casting Team, and "you must have a completed Short Application" with you. Both casting pages feed the checklist below, from the wristband times to the email rule.

• Pick a route: the online form, or an open call when ABC posts new dates.
• For an open call, bring the completed Short Application and a one-minute pitch.
• Arrive during the "Wristbands Distributed" time; ABC says there's no need to camp out overnight.
• Know the deal: the apply page says the Sharks have a goal "to own a piece."
• Trust only casting emails from an address ending in @sharktanktv.com.

Drawn by us, from ABC's Shark Tank apply and open call pages, November 4, 2026.

The piece the Sharks want is equity in your business. Our early-stage startup funding guide compares equity with loans and grants, and the guide to pitching with PowerPoint helps you fit a story into a short slot.

A business with nothing on sale yet can start with our product launch plan on a budget and our ecommerce website guide.

Fake Shark Tank ads and casting messages

ABC gives that email rule a reason, to "protect applicants from scams," and it warns about fakes on two pages. The apply page says "all official communication from the Shark Tank Casting Team originates from email addresses ending in @sharktanktv.com." Mail from any other domain, ABC adds, "is not from our team." Fake product ads are the other problem. ABC's list of products that appeared on Shark Tank, last updated October 28, 2026, says merchants use the show's and the Sharks' names to sell products. The page also says the list implies no endorsement by ABC, the Sharks or the show's producers. If an ad claims a product was on the show, check that list before you buy.

One lookalike domain, sharktankcasting.com, returned a 114-byte page on November 4, 2026 that sends visitors straight to a page called /lander. ABC's apply page doesn't link there, and we don't know who runs it. Our tips for spotting work-from-home scams carry over to casting messages, starting with typing ABC's address yourself rather than clicking a search result.

Official pages that agree on the cast, and those that lag

Our script saved these 13 pages on November 4, 2026, from ABC, the Disney press site, Sony and two casting domains.

Four pages agree name for name on today's panel: ABC's cast and show pages, and the press site's show page and bios list; the others lag or list none.

What we tested

On November 4, 2026, we sent 68 plain GET requests as DigitalTreed-check/1.0, three seconds apart. Of those, 65 returned 200, two casting-site requests got a 403 and one guessed press page got a 404. A local script built the table, and neither 403 was retried.

Shark Tank questions

How we made this guide: On November 4, 2026, a script saved 68 pages from ABC, the Disney press site and Sony. A second script built the table and matched every quote here to those pages. Net worth and personal details are left out on purpose. Facts checked by the DigitalTreed team on November 4, 2026.

First published March 2025 with net worth estimates and a six-Shark panel. Rewritten November 4, 2026 around ABC's season 18 cast, its guest Sharks and the official casting pages.

Sources

• ABC: Shark Tank cast
• ABC: Shark Tank show page
• ABC: Apply to Shark Tank
• ABC: Shark Tank open call
• ABC: Products that appeared on Shark Tank (last updated October 28, 2026)
• Disney press site: Shark Tank
• Disney press site: Shark Tank bios
• Disney press site: Mark Cuban bio
• ABC press release: Season premiere, Beast Mode (September 30, 2026)
• ABC press release: Favorite Daughters (September 30, 2026)
• ABC press release: Diary of a Shark (October 7, 2026)
• ABC press release: The Mindy Project (October 14, 2026)
• ABC press release: Hoop Dreams (November 11, 2026)
• ABC press release: Season 17 finale rebroadcast (first aired April 22, 2026)
• ABC: Season 18, episodes 1 and 2 recap
• ABC: Season 17, episode 4 recap
• Sony Pictures Television: Shark Tank