Mark Burnett is the executive producer credited with bringing Shark Tank to U.S. television. Burnett is a prominent television producer whose credits include several influential unscripted and competition programs.
Shark Tank is based on the format known internationally as Dragons' Den. Burnett helped develop the American version for ABC, translating the pitch-room concept for a U.S. audience while retaining its central ingredients: entrepreneurs, investor panelists, company valuations, and deal negotiations.
Burnett's involvement is sometimes confused with the show's on-camera investors. The Sharks evaluate businesses and may invest their own money, but executive producers work behind the scenes on the show's development, production, and overall television structure.
The series became one of Burnett's notable reality-television projects. Its format gives viewers both business entertainment and practical exposure to concepts such as equity, revenue, margins, licensing, and valuation.