Background and career
Robert Herjavec (Croatian: [xěrjaːʋet͡s]; born September 14, 1962) is a Croatian-Canadian businessman, investor, television personality, and cybersecurity expert. Herjavec founded BRAK Systems, a Canadian integrator of Internet security software, and sold it to AT&T Canada (now Allstream Inc.) in 2000 for $30.2 million. In 2003, he founded The Herjavec Group, now one of the largest information technology and computer security companies in Canada, with over $200 million in annual revenue. He has been a panelist and investor on several versions of the business reality series Dragon's Den, including the Canadian CBC series Dragons' Den, the American ABC's version of the series Shark Tank, and from 2023, on the Australian Network 10 version also titled Shark Tank. He has also written books on business. Herjavec received the 2012 Ernst & Young Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Technology and the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the governor-general of Canada for Outstanding Service to Canada.
Herjavec was born in 1962 in Varaždin, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia), and spent his early childhood in Zbjeg. In 1970, when Herjavec was eight, the family left the country, which had previously jailed Herjavec's father, Vladimir Herjavec, for speaking out against the governing system. According to Herjavec, "He’d drink a little too much and then say bad things about Communism, and got thrown into jail 22 times for being an anti-Communist." Herjavec's family first arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia with only $20. The family eventually settled in Toronto, where they lived in a family friend's home basement for 18 months. For Herjavec, who spoke no English, the transition proved difficult. Having grown up on a farm and raised by his grandmother among neighbours with similar lifestyles, he found himself in a much poorer economic class than his neighbours. In 1984, Herjavec graduated from New College at the University of Toronto with a degree in English literature and political science. To make a living and help support his family, Herjavec took on various minimum wage jobs in the 1980s, such as waiting tables, delivering newspapers, retail sales, and debt collection.
In the mid-1980s, Herjavec worked in several productions as a third assistant director, including Cain and Abel and The Return of Billy Jack. He was a field producer for Global TV of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
Looking for work between productions, Herjavec applied for a position at Logiquest selling IBM mainframe emulation boards. He was not qualified for the position but convinced the company to give it to him by offering to work for free for six months. To pay the rent during this "free" period, Herjavec waited tables. He eventually rose in the ranks to become General Manager of Logiquest. In 1990, after being fired from Logiquest, he founded BRAK Systems, a Canadian integrator of Internet security software, from the basement of his home. BRAK Systems was sold to AT&T Canada (now Allstream Inc.) in March 2000 for $30.2 million. He then became vice president of sales at Ramp Network, which was sold to Nokia for $225 million.
In 2003, Herjavec founded The Herjavec Group, a security solutions integrator, reseller, and managed service provider. Herjavec Group is one of Canada's fastest-growing technology companies and the country's largest information technology security provider. The company has grown from 3 employees with $400,000 in sales in 2003 to $200 million in annual revenue. In October 2017, Herjavec was phished by "email prankster" James Linton. Under the name of another company executive and using a fake e-mail address to impersonate him, he invited Herjavec a toga party. The fake account was later copied into official financial projection documents. In February 2021, Apax Partners acquired a majority stake of Herjavec Group from Herjavec, who retained a significant stake and stayed on as CEO. Apax Partners' purchase of a stake in Fishtech Group led to the merger and rebranding of The Herjavec Group and Fishtech Group as Cyderes in June 2022. The new brand went live June 13, 2022. Herjavec was the newly-formed company's CEO and board member. Herjavec announced he would be stepping down as CEO of Cyderes September 24, 2024. In an accompanying news release, he said. "My life is very busy with family, and investments, but Cyderes will always remain my core business focus. We have built a great business providing amazing value, and I am excited to support Chris [Schueler] to take it to the next level. ... Chris's appointment as CEO ensures that Cyderes will continue to innovate and lead in the cybersecurity space.”
Herjavec has appeared as a regular on the Canadian CBC Television series Dragons' Den (seasons 1–6, 17–18) and in the United States on ABC's version of the series, Shark Tank, where business pitches from aspiring entrepreneurs are presented to a panel of potential investors. Herjavec's most successful investment from the show is $100,000 for a 10% stake in sweater company Tipsy Elves. Herjavec has also invested in an herbal sparkling water company called Aura Bora. From 2023, he also began appearing on Network 10's Shark Tank Australia. Herjavec won three Gemini Awards as part of Dragon’s Den for Outstanding Reality Show in Canada. Herjavec presented awards at the 2013 Creative Arts Emmy Awards and the 2013 Mr. Olympia contest. On February 24, 2015, Herjavec was announced as one of the contestants for season 20 of the American edition of Dancing with the Stars. His partner was Australian dancer Kym Johnson, who he subsequently began a relationship with and married. On May 5, 2015, during a double elimination, Herjavec and Johnson were eliminated and finished in 6th place.
