Diane Plese spent more than two decades married to entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec, yet her own story is considerably quieter than her former husband’s television persona. A Canadian optometrist raised in Toronto by Croatian immigrant parents, Plese had an established professional life before family responsibilities gradually changed her career. Court records later documented that she operated her own optometry office, reduced her working hours after becoming a mother, and eventually left the workforce as Herjavec’s business career expanded. Their marriage produced three children and lasted from 1990 until their 2014 separation, followed by divorce proceedings that attracted widespread media attention.
Diane Plese Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Diane Plese |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Hometown | Parkdale, Toronto, Ontario |
| Family Heritage | Croatian |
| Profession | Optometrist |
| Career Background | Operated her own optometry office |
| Known For | Former wife of Robert Herjavec |
| Former Husband | Robert Herjavec |
| Marriage Year | 1990 |
| Separation Year | 2014 |
| Children | Three |
| Children’s Names | Brendan, Skye, and Caprice Herjavec |
Who Is Diane Plese?
Diane Plese is best known publicly as Robert Herjavec’s first wife, but describing her only through that relationship misses an important part of her background. She trained and worked as an optometrist and, according to the Ontario Court of Appeal’s account of the former couple’s marriage, was working full-time and operating her own office during the early years of their relationship. Her professional identity therefore existed independently of Herjavec’s later success on Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank. Her public profile grew largely because Robert became an internationally recognizable businessman and television investor, while Diane generally remained outside entertainment and promotional media.
Her Toronto Background
Plese was born and raised in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood, according to Global News, and her parents had immigrated to Canada from Croatia. That Croatian connection was something she shared with Herjavec, whose family left the former Yugoslavia when he was a child and eventually settled in the Toronto area. Reporting from the Croatian World Network stated that the pair married in a Croatian church in Mississauga, reflecting the cultural connection present in their family history. Reliable sources provide far fewer details about Diane’s schooling, exact birth date, or childhood than many online biographies claim, so those unsupported particulars are better left out of a factual profile.
Diane Plese’s Optometry Career
Long before divorce proceedings placed her name in entertainment headlines, Plese had built a career in eye care. Court documents provide some of the clearest evidence about that period: the Ontario Court of Appeal described her as a full-time optometrist who ran her own office during the early stage of the marriage. After the birth of the couple’s first child in 1993, she began working part time, continuing between subsequent maternity leaves. The timeline matters because it shows that Plese was not simply a private spouse attached to a wealthy entrepreneur; she had a specialized healthcare profession and independent practice before gradually reorganizing her working life around the couple’s growing family.
Meeting Robert Herjavec
One of the more memorable details attached to the couple’s story is how they reportedly met. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in 2015 that Herjavec met Plese when she was his optometrist, an encounter that eventually developed into a long-term relationship. They married in 1990, the same year Herjavec’s entrepreneurial career entered an important new phase after his departure from Logiquest and the creation of BRAK Systems. Their early married years therefore coincided with both spouses pursuing demanding careers: Diane in optometry and Robert in the technology business that would ultimately create much of his professional reputation.
Building Their Family
The marriage produced three children: son Brendan and daughters Skye and Caprice Herjavec. PEOPLE reports that Brendan was born in 1993, while Skye was born in 1996 and Caprice in 1998. Their children later pursued education and professional paths of their own; Brendan studied business and later earned an MBA, Skye studied business at the University of Southern California before working in finance, and Caprice attended Barnard College and competed in rowing before moving into professional consulting. Diane and Robert largely raised their children during the same period in which Herjavec’s technology businesses were expanding, connecting Plese’s changing professional role directly to the demands of the family.
Leaving Full-Time Work
The Ontario Court of Appeal offered an especially revealing account of how responsibilities were divided inside the Herjavec household. Plese had already reduced her optometry work after becoming a mother, but around 2003 Robert encouraged her to stop working entirely. She agreed, leaving the workforce to manage the household and care for their children while he concentrated more heavily on his business activities. The court noted that both former spouses described themselves as a good team during the marriage. That documented history became significant years later because Diane’s departure from her profession was an important consideration when courts examined compensatory spousal support following the breakdown of the marriage.
Robert Herjavec’s Business Rise
While Diane’s public visibility decreased, Robert Herjavec’s career accelerated. His first major technology venture, BRAK Systems, was sold to AT&T Canada in 2000 for a reported $30.2 million, and he later founded The Herjavec Group in 2003, building his reputation in cybersecurity. He then became familiar to television audiences through Canada’s Dragon’s Den before joining ABC’s Shark Tank. That growing combination of entrepreneurship, television exposure, speaking engagements, investments, and media appearances transformed the family’s financial circumstances dramatically. Understanding that career trajectory also explains why the eventual divorce became far more financially complicated than a typical celebrity separation headline might suggest.
Marriage and Family Dynamic
For much of their marriage, Diane occupied the private side of a household increasingly associated with Robert’s public success. Three aspects of that arrangement are particularly clear from the documented record: • Career: she moved from running an optometry practice to part-time work and eventually left paid employment; • Family: she took primary responsibility for household management and raising the couple’s three children while Robert concentrated on his businesses; • Partnership: both spouses later characterized themselves in court as having worked well together as a team during the marriage. Those details provide far more insight into Plese’s role than speculative stories about her wealth, personality, or private habits.
Their 2014 Separation
After approximately 24 years of marriage, Plese and Herjavec separated in 2014. When the separation became public in March 2015, PEOPLE reported that Herjavec described the preceding year as extremely difficult and expressed a desire for peace for the family as they moved forward. Global News likewise confirmed the separation while identifying Diane as an optometrist and noting that the couple shared three children. The split attracted considerably more attention than Plese had previously received because Herjavec was already a recognizable Shark Tank personality and had just been announced as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.
Diane Plese’s Divorce Case
The legal aftermath extended beyond the initial separation and became significant in Canadian family-law discussions. An Ontario court case, Plese v. Herjavec, addressed equalization, spousal support, child support and issues connected with the couple’s finances. Following a four-week trial, the court ordered Herjavec to make a lump-sum equalization payment of $2,689,558 and pay Diane $125,000 per month in spousal support for an indefinite period. The court also addressed support for the couple’s youngest daughter while she was attending university. Herjavec appealed the spousal-support ruling, but the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed that appeal in December 2020.
Why Support Was Significant
The support decision becomes easier to understand when viewed through the history of the marriage rather than as a standalone dollar figure. The appellate court emphasized that Plese had once operated her own optometry office but altered and ultimately ended her career as the family expanded and Herjavec devoted himself to his increasingly successful businesses. The trial judge recognized both compensatory considerations and the parties’ circumstances after a 24-year marriage. The appellate decision also rejected the argument that Diane’s substantial capital following property division automatically eliminated her entitlement to ongoing support, finding no reversible error in the trial judge’s individualized assessment.
Life After Robert Herjavec
Plese’s approach to public life differs sharply from that of her former husband. Robert continued with television, entrepreneurship and high-profile appearances, while Diane did not build a comparable entertainment career or highly visible public brand after their divorce. That difference is important when evaluating online biographies: many websites fill the limited public record with unsupported birth dates, estimated net-worth figures, lifestyle descriptions and assumptions about where she currently lives. The verified picture is simpler and more meaningful. Plese was a professional optometrist, became the primary household and family caregiver during a long marriage, went through a major divorce proceeding, and afterward largely remained outside celebrity media.
Robert’s Life After Divorce
Herjavec’s personal life moved in a different direction after the separation. He competed on Season 20 of Dancing with the Stars in 2015 with professional dancer Kym Johnson, and the pair later developed a relationship. They became engaged in February 2016 and married in Los Angeles on July 31, 2016. Robert and Kym later welcomed twins Hudson Robert and Haven Mae in April 2018. His three children with Plese remained part of his broader family story, meaning Diane’s connection to the entrepreneur continues principally through Brendan, Skye and Caprice rather than through a shared public or professional partnership.
Why Diane Still Draws Interest
Search interest surrounding Diane Plese persists largely because viewers discovering Herjavec through Shark Tank want to understand the years of his life that preceded his current marriage and television fame. Her story also differs from the standard celebrity-spouse narrative because official court records document a substantial professional and family contribution across a 24-year marriage. She had her own healthcare career, changed that career following motherhood, and eventually stepped away from work while her husband’s businesses grew. Those concrete facts make Plese’s biography more informative than speculative discussions about personal wealth or fame and explain why her name remains closely associated with Robert’s earlier life.
Final Thoughts
Diane Plese’s story is ultimately that of a trained optometrist whose private life became publicly interesting because of a long marriage to one of television’s most recognizable entrepreneurs. She and Robert Herjavec married in 1990, raised Brendan, Skye and Caprice, and built their household during the decades in which Herjavec moved from technology entrepreneur to Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank personality. Plese’s own professional sacrifices were later documented in detail during their family-law proceedings, giving the public an unusually clear account of her contribution to the marriage. Since the divorce, she has avoided turning that visibility into a celebrity career, leaving a biography defined more by professional training, motherhood and a major life transition than by television fame.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Diane Plese?
Diane Plese is a Canadian optometrist best known as Robert Herjavec’s former wife. Ontario court records state that she once worked full time and operated her own optometry office before eventually leaving the workforce to concentrate on their household and children.
What does Diane Plese do?
Plese trained and worked professionally as an optometrist. She initially practiced full time, later moved to part-time work following the birth of her first child, and stopped working around 2003 as she took greater responsibility for managing the family household.
How did Diane meet Robert?
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Robert Herjavec met Diane when she was his optometrist. Their relationship eventually led to marriage in 1990.
How long were they married?
Diane Plese and Robert Herjavec married in 1990 and separated in 2014, making theirs a roughly 24-year marriage before separation. Divorce-related proceedings continued afterward.
Do Diane and Robert have children?
Yes. They share three children: Brendan, Skye and Caprice Herjavec. All three were born during their marriage and have since pursued their own educational and professional interests.
What happened in their divorce?
Their separation led to extensive family-law proceedings involving property equalization and support. Following trial, Herjavec was ordered to pay a $2,689,558 equalization payment and $125,000 per month in indefinite spousal support; the Ontario Court of Appeal later dismissed his appeal of the support order.
Where is Diane Plese now?
Plese has maintained a comparatively private profile since the end of her marriage to Herjavec. Reliable mainstream reporting provides little detail about her present-day personal activities, and there is no need to rely on unverified celebrity websites to fill that gap.
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