Shark Tank is the American television adaptation related to Britain's Dragon's Den.
Shark Tank uses the same basic international format: entrepreneurs present businesses to a panel of wealthy investors and seek money in exchange for equity. The American programme premiered on ABC in 2009 and uses sharks instead of dragons as its investor nickname.
The two shows are not identical in every production detail. They have different hosts, investors, branding, networks, and national business environments. Nevertheless, they share the same broad format lineage that began with the Japanese programme Money Tigers.
The title is sometimes mistaken for the source of the British show because Shark Tank is highly visible internationally. In fact, the British programme began in 2005, while the American adaptation arrived several years later. The shared premise is therefore evidence of a common format rather than proof that one programme copied the other directly.