Everything We Know About Season 18 of Shark Tank So Far

Last updated September 3, 2026. This is a living page, refreshed as ABC publishes the Season 18 episode schedule.

Shark Tank Season 18 premieres Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Premiere night is a two-episode event, and new episodes will stream the next day on Hulu. Beginning October 7, the show moves to its regular Wednesday time slot at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

That is the short answer. The bigger story is a redesigned panel, two new permanent sharks, and the largest guest-shark lineup ABC has announced for the series. Here is every Season 18 detail the network has confirmed as of September 3, plus the important things it has not revealed yet.

Season 18 Premiere Date and Time

ABC has set the Shark Tank Season 18 premiere for Wednesday, September 30. The two-episode premiere begins at 9 p.m. ET/PT, immediately after the two-episode return of Scrubs. That gives Shark Tank a two-hour launch night before the rest of ABC's Wednesday schedule settles into place.

The schedule changes one week later. On Wednesday, October 7, Shark Tank moves to 10 p.m. ET/PT, its regular time slot for the 2026 to 2027 television season. Abbott Elementary airs at 8:30 p.m., Who Wants to Be a Millionaire continues at 9 p.m., and Shark Tank closes the night at 10 p.m.

Episodes stream the day after their ABC broadcast on Hulu. ABC also says its original fall programming will be available through Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. The network has not announced a different release pattern for Shark Tank, so Thursday is the streaming day after each new Wednesday episode.

The Eight Permanent Sharks

Season 18 has eight permanent sharks: Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Daniel Lubetzky, Kevin O'Leary, Kendra Scott, and Rashaun Williams. That does not mean all eight will sit behind the desk in every episode. Shark Tank normally selects a smaller panel from its regular cast and rotates guest investors into open chairs.

The six returning permanent sharks are Corcoran, Herjavec, Greiner, John, Lubetzky, and O'Leary. Lubetzky, the founder of KIND, became a regular in Season 16 after several seasons as a guest. The other five are the long-running investors who have anchored the show for most of its history.

Kendra Scott and Rashaun Williams are the two new full-time additions. Both already know the Tank from earlier guest appearances. Scott brings consumer-brand, retail, and jewelry experience, while Williams brings a venture-capital and sports-investing background. ABC describes their Season 18 jobs as expanded, permanent roles rather than occasional guest spots.

Mark Cuban Is Not Returning as a Permanent Shark

Mark Cuban is not part of ABC's permanent Season 18 lineup. His regular run ended after Season 16, and Season 17 became the first full season of the post-Cuban era. The show initially absorbed that change with rotating guests. Promoting Scott and Williams for Season 18 gives the panel a more permanent answer without asking one person to imitate Cuban's role.

ABC has not announced a Mark Cuban guest appearance in Season 18. A future business update or cameo is always possible, but it would be speculation to promise one before the network puts it on the schedule.

Every Confirmed Season 18 Guest Shark

ABC says Season 18 will feature more guest sharks than ever before. The announced group is MrBeast with Beast Industries CEO Jeffrey Housenbold, Mindy Kaling, J.J. Watt, Erin Foster with Sara Foster, and Steven Bartlett. The network says they will appear alongside regular sharks in various episodes, but it has not published their individual air dates.

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the headline booking. He appears with Housenbold as a two-person Beast Industries team, not as two unrelated guest sharks. Their combination gives founders access to both the creator's enormous audience and the executive running the company behind his media and consumer businesses.

Mindy Kaling enters as a writer, producer, director, actor, author, and entertainment entrepreneur. J.J. Watt brings the perspective of a former NFL star and founder of the Justin J. Watt Foundation. Sisters Erin and Sara Foster are producers, entrepreneurs, and co-founders of fashion brand Favorite Daughter.

Steven Bartlett creates the clearest international crossover. He is an entrepreneur and investor on the United Kingdom's Dragons' Den, the British version of the same television format, and hosts The Diary of a CEO. His appearance puts an active Dragon into the American Tank.

Why Season 18 Looks Different

The Season 18 cast mixes three different generations of Shark Tank. Corcoran, Herjavec, Greiner, John, and O'Leary supply the familiar core. Lubetzky, Scott, and Williams represent the newer permanent panel. The celebrity and founder guests give the producers a different kind of expertise to match with individual pitches.

That mix also broadens what an entrepreneur can gain from a deal. A consumer product might benefit from Greiner or Scott, a high-growth startup could fit Williams, and a creator-led brand may have unusual value to the Beast Industries team. The interesting question is not simply who writes the biggest check, but which sharks the producers place together and which founders they put in front of them.

What We Know About the Episodes

The September 30 premiere contains two episodes. After that, the series continues weekly in the 10 p.m. Wednesday slot beginning October 7. As in earlier seasons, ABC says episodes will include follow-up stories showing what happened to businesses that previously made deals in the Tank.

No Season 18 businesses have been announced by ABC yet. The network has also not released episode-by-episode shark panels, guest-shark dates, pitch descriptions, deal results, or a final episode count. Any list claiming to know those details now is getting ahead of the official schedule.

Recent seasons have generally run from fall into the following spring, with breaks around holidays and other network programming. Season 17 had 18 episodes, but that does not confirm the Season 18 total. ABC can still add, remove, or reschedule episodes as the broadcast year develops.

The Confirmed Season 18 Schedule

Wednesday, September 30: two-episode Season 18 premiere at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. The episodes stream Thursday on Hulu.

Wednesday, October 7: Shark Tank begins its regular 10 p.m. ET/PT Wednesday time slot. New episodes continue to stream the following day on Hulu.

ABC has not yet posted the complete fall episode calendar. Weekly episode titles, participating sharks, guest appearances, and businesses will be added here as the network releases them.

What Is Still Unknown

The biggest unanswered question is which guest sharks appear in which episodes. ABC has confirmed the names but not the order. That includes the exact MrBeast and Jeffrey Housenbold episode date, the number of episodes each guest joins, and whether any additional guests will be announced later.

We also do not know the premiere-night companies, the full slate of pitches, the deals made on air, or how the eight permanent sharks will rotate. Those details usually arrive through weekly ABC press releases closer to each broadcast.

For now, the facts worth putting on the calendar are simple: Season 18 starts September 30 with two episodes at 9 p.m., settles into Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on October 7, streams next day on Hulu, and introduces the deepest announced bench of permanent and guest sharks in the show's history.

Our Sources and Update Policy

The premiere date, launch format, regular time slot, streaming plan, permanent cast, and guest roster in this article come from ABC's July 7 Season 18 casting announcement, ABC's July 27 fall premiere schedule, and the network's current Shark Tank show and press pages. We checked those official sources again on September 3, 2026.

This is a living Season 18 guide. We will update it as ABC announces the premiere businesses, weekly episode details, guest-shark dates, and results. Confirmed information will stay separate from rumors and predictions so the page remains useful after the season begins.