Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary blasts ‘idiot’ workers for buying daily coffee

Canadian multi-millionaire Kevin O’Leary has blasted “idiot” workers for “pissing away” their money on a daily cup of coffee.

In a rant reminiscent of Bernard Salt and Tim Gurner’s infamous avocado toast commentary, the Shark Tank investor and businessman – who has an estimated net worth of $593,460,000 – didn’t mince his words when discussing the “stupid stuff” people spend their money on.

“Stop buying coffee for $5.50. You got to work and spend $15 on a sandwich – what are you, an idiot?” Mr O’Leary said in a clip shared to Instagram.

“It costs you 99 cents to make a sandwich at home and bring it with you.

“You start to add that up everyday, it’s a ton of money. Most people, particularly working in metropolitan cities that are just starting out in their job making their first $60,000, piss away about $15,000 a year on stupid stuff. And that’s what they should stop doing.”

Many in the comments agreed with Mr O’Leary, writing it was “common sense” for people to dial back their spending on takeaway coffee and dining out.

“Bringing my lunch to work for decades saved me countless thousands of dollars,” one person wrote.

“100 percent! $10 here, $7 there, another $12 here & another $9 there sure adds up quickly,” another commented. “Before you know it you’re spending $357 every month totalling a whopping $4284 per year.”

Others, however, poked holes in Mr O’Leary’s “out of touch” advice – saying he was clueless to the actual cost of groceries if he thought people could make a sandwich at home for less than a dollar.

While “cost of working” research conducted by McCrindle found that Australians spend an average of $2436 on lunches each year – with those in the office spending $6 more per week ($41) than those who work from home – more recent data has shown many are pulling back on discretionary purchases.

In June, transactions data from digital payments platform Square showed a rising number of Aussies were ditching their pre-work takeaway coffee, a move driven by hybrid work arrangements and the high cost of living.

The number of purchases at food and drink businesses between 7am and 11am on weekdays have dropped to below pre-pandemic levels in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

At the same time, transaction volumes have risen during weekend brunch hours, signaling a change to how people prioritize their spending.

According to Square’s analysis, weekday breakfast transactions are down by more than five per cent in Melbourne, but up by four per cent on Saturdays and Sundays.

It’s a similar situation in Sydney, albeit to a lesser degree: transaction volumes are down 2.4 per cent on weekday breakfasts, but up 1.6 per cent during weekend brunch hours.

Square Australia’s head of business development, Colin Birney, told The Guardian that venues catering for professional workers are trying to adjust – starting an evening service to capitalize on the after work economy, opting to close an extra day, or sell groceries and other goods as a way to increase revenue.

More employees are working from home and packing their lunch when they head to the office, and “that seems to be playing out as demand for weekday breakfasts decreases”, Mr Birney said.

“We’re often told that making your breakfast at home or having cereal at the office are some of the easiest ways to save a bit of cash,” he noted.

Mr O’Leary’s coffee spray comes after he made headlines for rubbishing Australia’s new Right to Disconnect legislation, which came into effect on August 26.

The laws give staff working at a business with 15 or more employees the right to refuse contact outside of their working hours, along with the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer or third party.

The new rules apply within reason and several factors need to be considered before sending your boss to voicemail – but, ultimately, any calls, texts or emails deemed to be “unreasonable” contact can now officially be ignored.

Mr O’Leary questioned “why … anyone (would) propose such a stupid idea”, declaring he would “fire” workers who went “silent mode” on him during an appearance on Fox News program, Outnumbered.

“What happens if you have an event in the office and it is closed? Or you have an emergency room somewhere and you have to get hold of them at 2am in the morning because it affects the job they are on?” he said.

“This kind of stuff just makes me crazy. It is so dumb. Who dreams this crap up?”