Statistics: Charles Barkley Invested $375k on Shark Tank

Charles Barkley did something a little unusual with his two visits to Shark Tank Season 10. He left with three deals, which means he actually made more investments than appearances. Cave Shake was one of them, then SubSafe and Zorpads. And that was the complete list.

Charles agreed to $375,000 between those companies. But he was not putting up all of the money each time. Mark Cuban was there with him for SubSafe and Lori Greiner joined him for Zorpads. Cave Shake was the one business Charles took by himself.

That makes Cave Shake a pretty big part of his short time as a Shark. Charles agreed to $250,000 for 20% of the company, while his part of SubSafe was only $50,000 and Zorpads gave him another $75,000. Those two smaller deals together only reach $125,000. Cave Shake alone was twice that amount.

There was also a reason Cave Shake got Charles interested that had nothing to do with basketball investments or knowing the beverage business. Charles had struggled with his weight after retiring and talked about that while Holly Heath and Billie Cavallaro were pitching their coconut-milk shakes. He knew what it was like trying to keep his weight under control. Sometimes knowing the problem yourself is enough to make a product interesting.

His other two investments were shared deals. Mark Cuban joined Charles on SubSafe, while Lori Greiner joined him on Zorpads. Cave Shake was the only company where Charles made the deal without another Shark beside him.

How Much Did Charles Barkley Invest on Shark Tank?

The three deals Charles Barkley accepted on Shark Tank add up to an attributed $375,000. All three happened during Season 10, so there is not much to spread across different seasons here. Cave Shake, SubSafe and Zorpads were the complete investment list.

Company	Accepted Deal	Charles Barkley’s Attributed Commitment
Cave Shake	$250,000 for 20% equity	$250,000
SubSafe	$100,000 for 25% equity	$50,000
Zorpads	$150,000 for 22.5% equity	$75,000
Total		$375,000

The $100,000 SubSafe deal was made with Mark Cuban. Split that between the two Sharks and Charles has $50,000 in the company. Lori Greiner was with him on Zorpads, where the accepted offer was $150,000 for 22.5%. That puts another $75,000 with Charles.

And then Cave Shake adds the other $250,000. There was no Mark or Lori in that deal to share the investment with Charles, so his complete $250,000 offer is counted. $50,000 from one company, $75,000 from another and then $250,000 from Cave Shake. That gets Charles to $375,000.

Of course, these numbers are based on the deals Charles accepted in the Tank. Shark Tank deals still have to go through the process after filming, and an onscreen agreement does not by itself tell us that the exact money was eventually invested. So, $375,000 is Charles Barkley’s attributed amount from his three accepted deals.

Charles Barkley Invested $250,000 in Cave Shake

Holly Heath and Billie Cavallaro were not starting Cave Shake from zero when they met Charles. The coconut-milk shake business had made around $270,000 in the previous year, and they were asking for $250,000 for 10%. LA Libations already owned 15% of Cave Shake and was also getting a commission from sales. Several Sharks did not like finding that out.

Charles had another reason to keep listening. After retiring from basketball, he had struggled with his weight and talked about how difficult it was to keep it under control. Cave Shake was selling to people following keto and paleo diets. He knew that customer problem without Holly and Billie having to make it sound important.

But liking what Cave Shake was doing did not get Holly and Billie their 10% deal. Charles wanted 20% for the same $250,000. They tried to negotiate that ownership down, and Charles stayed at 20%. Finally, Holly and Billie agreed.

That meant their original 10% ask became 20% before they left the Tank. The money never changed, it was still $250,000. And unlike Charles’s deals with SubSafe and Zorpads, nobody else was coming into Cave Shake with him. This one was Charles by himself.

What Happened to Cave Shake After Shark Tank?

Charles Barkley did more than disappear once the Cave Shake episode was over. The deal reportedly closed, and he later promoted the shakes on Inside the NBA. That put Cave Shake in front of a lot of people who probably had never heard of the company before. The business also changed its name to Space Shake later on.

Space Shake kept growing for several years. The company changed its packaging and portions, got into more retailers and was later reported to be doing around $3 million in yearly revenue. That is quite a jump from the roughly $270,000 Holly Heath and Billie Cavallaro had made in the year before Shark Tank. Charles had joined the company while it was still much smaller.

By 2026, Space Shake had become pretty quiet. The website had been unavailable for quite some time, the shakes were difficult to find and the company had stopped posting on social media. The company never clearly announced that it was shutting down. But there is not much activity left to suggest the business is still running.

This came after the business had already grown quite a bit from its Shark Tank days. It changed from Cave Shake to Space Shake and was reportedly doing around $3 million in yearly revenue at one point. Charles Barkley stayed involved with the company too and promoted the shakes publicly. Space Shake now appears to be likely out of business, although there is no clear confirmation from the company that it officially closed.

Charles Barkley Invested $50,000 in SubSafe

Adam and Desiree Haller came up with SubSafe after having food ruined inside a cooler. A sandwich can easily get wet once the ice starts melting, or just get smashed between everything else in there. Their product was a waterproof container that kept the sandwich away from all of that. Adam and Desiree wanted $50,000 for 13% equity.

But they ended up leaving with twice the money they came for. Mark Cuban and Charles Barkley offered $100,000 for 25% of SubSafe together, and Adam and Desiree accepted. There was no different split mentioned between Charles and Mark. So Charles gets $50,000 from this deal.

SubSafe kept going after Shark Tank and the original container was not the only product for long. Adam and Desiree added more food-storage products to the business. So, customers who came for SubSafe had other things they could buy too.

Mark and Charles stayed part of the story as well. Years later, Adam and Desiree were still calling them partners in the company. That is a good sign the relationship continued after Shark Tank, rather than ending once filming was over. And with so many deals changing or falling apart afterward, that matters.

Charles Barkley Invested $75,000 in Zorpads

Taylor Wiegele and Sierra Smith had something for smelly shoes. Zorpads were small inserts that went inside the shoe and helped with the odor, without having to put a full insole in there. It was a pretty easy problem to understand. Taylor and Sierra wanted $150,000 for 8% of the company.

Charles had probably been around more smelly shoes than most people in the Tank. Years of basketball meant locker rooms, athletes and shoes being used over and over again. Lori Greiner had something different to bring because she knew consumer products and retail. So, Charles and Lori went into Zorpads together.

The founders did have to give up much more than the 8% they came in offering. Lori and Charles offered $150,000 for 22.5%, and Taylor and Sierra accepted. With the two Sharks sharing the money, Charles’s part comes to $75,000. This became the last of his three Shark Tank investments.

Zorpads continued after Shark Tank and later reports put its lifetime sales at around $4 million. The company was still selling in 2026 too. Lori reportedly was no longer involved by then, but Charles stayed connected with the business.

Charles Barkley’s Shark Tank Investment Style

Charles had spent his career in basketball, but only one of his three investments had an obvious connection with athletes. Zorpads made sense there because Charles had spent years around locker rooms and athletic shoes. Cave Shake caught his attention for another personal reason. He had struggled with his weight after retiring, so he already understood why someone might want a product like that.

Then there was SubSafe. Keeping sandwiches dry in a cooler had basically nothing to do with basketball or Charles’s own weight problems. He still invested. So, he was not only looking for businesses that somehow matched his sports career.

All three were pretty simple consumer products too. A shake, a container for food and small inserts for smelly shoes. There was not much explaining needed before somebody could understand what each product was supposed to do. Charles could see the problem and what the product was doing about it.

He also had another Shark with him on two of the three deals. Mark Cuban joined him on SubSafe, and Lori Greiner joined him on Zorpads. Charles did not have Lori’s experience selling consumer products, and he did not need to pretend he did. Cave Shake was the only one he decided to take by himself.

How Successful Was Charles Barkley on Shark Tank?

Three companies is a very small Shark Tank record for Charles Barkley. He was not there long enough to have dozens of businesses where a few could fail and a few could become huge. SubSafe and Zorpads continued operating years after their episodes. Cave Shake went much further in sales for a while, but now appears to be gone.

And Cave Shake was the company where Charles had put the most money. His $250,000 deal was twice the $125,000 attributed to SubSafe and Zorpads together. The business later became Space Shake and was reported to be doing around $3 million in yearly revenue. So, the biggest of Charles’s three deals did grow quite a bit before things became quiet.

But how much money did Charles make from all of that? We don’t know. A business can sell millions of dollars worth of products, but Charles only owned a part of the company. Those sales were not $3 million going to Charles.

It is the same problem with SubSafe and Zorpads. Both businesses staying around for years is certainly better than watching them disappear, but that still doesn’t give us Charles’s return. There is no public number showing what either company paid him, or what his ownership eventually became worth. So, we know much more about how Charles’s three businesses did than how much Charles himself made from them.

Conclusion

Charles Barkley had a very short time on Shark Tank. Two appearances gave him Cave Shake, SubSafe and Zorpads, and after that there were no more deals to add. He agreed to $375,000 between the three companies. Not a huge list, but Charles was certainly not sitting there without making deals.

Cave Shake took $250,000 of that money by itself. SubSafe only added $50,000 on Charles’s side because Mark Cuban was investing with him, and Lori Greiner shared Zorpads with Charles. That one added another $75,000. Cave Shake was also the only time Charles did not have another Shark beside him.

Cave Shake had a pretty different ending from Charles’s other two deals. It became Space Shake and grew for several years, but now the business appears to be gone. SubSafe and Zorpads kept going. Charles did not completely disappear from the businesses after making the deals either. His involvement continued after the episodes were filmed.

But none of this gives us Charles’s return. We know the three accepted deals put his attributed amount at $375,000, and we know quite a bit about what happened to the businesses afterward. What we don’t know is how much money ever came back to Charles. Those numbers were never made public.