Product Update
Is Hillbilly Brand Still in Business? (2026 Update)
Is Hillbilly Brand from Shark Tank still around in 2026? The deal it made, the sharks who invested, and where to buy Hillbilly Brand today.
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Mike Abbaticchio and Shon Lees started Hillbilly Brand the old-fashioned way, selling t-shirts and hats out of the back of a truck at local events before ever setting foot on a Shark Tank stage. That was Season 2, one of the earliest seasons the show ever produced, back when Jeff Foxworthy sat in as a guest shark alongside Robert Herjavec and Daymond John. More than fifteen years later, the brand built from that truck bed is still operating, and it has grown well past clothing.
The Short Answer
Hillbilly Brand is still in business, running an active Shopify storefront at hillbillybrand.com that ships to more than 195 countries and regions. The current lineup includes trucker hats in multiple colorways, branded t-shirts, and a genuinely unexpected addition for a Season 2 apparel brand: bottled lemonade, sold in twelve-packs in Classic and Blue Raspberry varieties.
Adding a beverage line to what started as a country-lifestyle apparel brand is not something a struggling company typically attempts. It suggests Hillbilly Brand has the retail infrastructure and cash flow to diversify into a completely different product category, one with its own supply chain and shelf-life concerns, rather than just reprinting the same handful of shirt designs it started with.
The Shark Tank Pitch
Hillbilly Brand appeared in Season 2, Episode 4, pitched out of Parkland, Florida, in the Men's and Women's Apparel category. Abbaticchio and Lees asked for 50,000 dollars in exchange for 25 percent of the company, valuing the business at 200,000 dollars on the ask, a modest number reflecting how early-stage and grassroots the business still was at the time.
The Deal That Got Done
Robert Herjavec and Daymond John made the deal together, alongside guest shark Jeff Foxworthy, and they restructured it heavily compared to the original ask. Instead of 50,000 dollars for 25 percent, the panel offered 75,000 dollars for 100 percent of the company plus a 7 percent royalty, a total buyout rather than a minority equity stake.
That is a fundamentally different kind of deal than most companies in this database took. Selling the entire business rather than a slice of it is a bigger, riskier bet for the founders, trading full ownership for a bigger upfront check and continued royalty income instead of long-term equity upside. It also means Abbaticchio and Lees gave up control at a very early stage in the company's life, betting that the resources and retail connections that came with three sharks backing a full buyout would grow the brand faster than staying independent would have.
Hillbilly Brand net worth in 2026
Shark Tank tracking sites estimate Hillbilly Brand currently generates approximately 1 million dollars in annual revenue, describing it as a premier outdoor and country lifestyle brand. That figure comes from third-party Shark Tank tracker estimates rather than a company-published financial statement, so it should be treated as an informed industry estimate rather than an audited number. Still, a 1 million dollar annual revenue estimate for a brand now selling apparel and beverages across nearly 200 countries and territories is plausible given the scale of its current operation, and there is no evidence contradicting it.
Where Things Stand Now
Hillbilly Brand pitched in Season 2 out of Parkland, Florida, one of the earliest episodes the show ever aired, asking for 50,000 dollars for 25 percent. Herjavec, John, and guest shark Jeff Foxworthy instead bought the entire company for 75,000 dollars plus a 7 percent royalty.
More than fifteen years later, the brand that started selling shirts and hats out of a truck now ships apparel and a bottled lemonade line internationally through its own Shopify store, with third-party estimates putting annual revenue around 1 million dollars. Of all the companies in this batch, Hillbilly Brand has the longest track record, and it has used that time to genuinely diversify rather than just survive on nostalgia for its Shark Tank appearance. Going from a full company buyout in one of the show's earliest seasons to a beverage line shipping to nearly 200 countries is not a story that plays out for most brands sitting in the show's back catalog, and it is worth remembering that this survival happened almost entirely out of the public eye, with no follow-up television appearance to re-introduce the brand along the way.
Where to buy Hillbilly Brand
Still selling as of March 23, 2026. Check today's price and availability.
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See the full Hillbilly Brand deal breakdown and term sheet →
