Diane Plese is widely known as the former wife of businessman and Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec, but her own professional story — a trained optometrist who ran her own practice before stepping away to raise three children — became central to one of Canada’s more closely watched divorce cases, one that eventually reached the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Quick Bio of Diane Plese
| Detail | Information |
| Full Name | Diane Plese |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Background | Croatian-Canadian family |
| Profession | Optometrist |
| Education | University of Western Ontario |
| Known For | Former wife of entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec |
| Married | June 1990, at a Croatian church in Mississauga, Ontario |
| Separated | July 2014, after roughly 24 years of marriage |
| Children | Brendan (b. 1993), Skye (b. 1996), Caprice (b. 1998) |
| Legal Case | Plese v. Herjavec, 2020 ONCA 810 (Ontario Court of Appeal) |
| Current Status | Lives privately; avoids media appearances |
Who Is Diane Plese?
Diane Plese is a Canadian optometrist best known publicly as the first wife of Robert Herjavec, the Croatian-Canadian entrepreneur who built a cybersecurity fortune before becoming a television personality on Dragons’ Den and, later, Shark Tank. Plese and Herjavec were married for roughly 24 years and raised three children together, but their 2014 separation led to a lengthy, high-profile legal battle over spousal support — one that produced a reported appellate decision and drew attention well beyond typical celebrity-divorce coverage because of the legal questions it raised about compensating a spouse for career sacrifices made during a marriage.
Her Education and Career as an Optometrist
Plese trained as an optometrist, attending the University of Western Ontario before qualifying to practice. She went on to work in optometry practices and eventually ran her own office, treating patients and managing a small healthcare business — a career she had already established before she met Herjavec, who had not yet built the business success that would later make him well known.
Meeting Robert Herjavec
According to reporting on the case, Plese and Herjavec met in the late 1980s, reportedly through her optometry practice, and dated for roughly two years before marrying in June 1990 at a Croatian church in Mississauga, Ontario — both come from Croatian-Canadian families. At the time of their marriage, Herjavec had not yet built his business fortune; shortly afterward, he lost his job and began developing Brak Enterprises, an early internet-security software company that eventually grew into a larger and more successful venture. In these early years, Plese’s income as a working optometrist provided a measure of financial stability for the household.
Marriage and Motherhood
The couple had three children: a son, Brendan, born in 1993, followed by two daughters, Skye, born in 1996, and Caprice, born in 1998. As Herjavec’s cybersecurity businesses grew more successful — and as he later gained a wider public profile through Canadian television’s Dragons’ Den and then the American series Shark Tank — Plese gradually reduced her working hours following Brendan’s birth, continuing to practice part-time through her later pregnancies before stepping away from optometry work entirely by around the early 2000s.
Leaving Her Career
By the time she and Herjavec separated, Plese had been out of the optometry workforce for well over a decade. This extended absence from her profession became a central issue in the divorce proceedings that followed, as the court assessed how her decision to prioritize childcare and household management over her own career had affected her long-term earning capacity, even as it allowed Herjavec the flexibility to grow his businesses.
The End of a 24-Year Marriage
Diane Plese and Robert Herjavec separated on July 24, 2014, after approximately 24 years of marriage, with the separation becoming public knowledge the following year as Plese moved to file for divorce. The case attracted media attention in part because of Herjavec’s existing public profile as a television investor, and in part because of the scale of the family’s accumulated wealth by the time of the split.
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The Divorce Case: Plese v. Herjavec
The resulting legal proceedings were extensive, ultimately producing a trial decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice followed by an appeal. Reported coverage of the trial decision describes a spousal support order in the range of $124,000 to $125,000 per month — figures that appear slightly differently across secondary reporting, so the precise originally ordered amount should be treated with some caution pending the primary judgment text — along with an equalization payment to Plese reported at various points as roughly $2.5 million to $2.69 million, reflecting the court’s calculation of the difference in net family property between the two parties. Some reporting states Plese’s total settlement, including spousal support entitlements, amounted to roughly $25 million.
The court’s reasoning, as described in legal commentary on the case, centered on two forms of support: compensatory support recognizing Plese’s sacrifice of her optometry career and 15-plus years out of the workforce, and needs-based support reflecting the lifestyle the couple had established during the marriage. Herjavec appealed the spousal support ruling, and the Court of Appeal for Ontario — in a decision cited as Plese v. Herjavec, 2020 ONCA 810, released December 16, 2020, under Chief Justice Strathy — considered the matter, with reporting indicating the appellate court upheld the compensatory basis for the award given Plese’s contributions during the marriage and the career opportunities she gave up.
An indefinite spousal support order, as was made in this case, doesn’t mean the amount can never be revisited — it means no fixed end date was set, leaving open the possibility that either party could seek a review if circumstances changed significantly.
Life After the Divorce
Since the divorce, Diane Plese has maintained a notably private life, avoiding media appearances and declining to publicly discuss the details of her marriage or its end. Herjavec has spoken briefly and generally about the difficulty of the period but has likewise not detailed the specific reasons behind the split. Little reliable public information exists about Plese’s life, residence, or activities since the case concluded.
What Isn’t Reliably Known
Several specific figures connected to this case are reported inconsistently across secondary sources and should be treated with some caution pending the primary court record: the exact equalization payment amount (reported as both roughly $2.5 million and $2.69 million), the precise monthly spousal support figure (reported as both $124,000 and $125,000), and Plese’s total net settlement value. Her current relationship status, residence, and any post-divorce career activity also aren’t reliably documented.
Final Thoughts
Diane Plese’s story is often framed around the size of her divorce settlement, but the more substantive part of it is what the case itself established: a court’s recognition that a spouse’s withdrawal from a healthcare career to support a family carries real, measurable economic consequences — consequences that outlasted the marriage itself and were upheld on appeal. Beyond the headlines about her former husband’s television fame, Plese’s own documented history is that of a trained healthcare professional whose career choices became central to a significant piece of Canadian family law.
FAQs About Diane Plese
Who is Diane Plese?
She’s a Canadian optometrist best known as the former wife of entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec.
How did Diane Plese meet Robert Herjavec?
Reportedly through her optometry practice in the late 1980s; they married in June 1990.
How many children do Diane Plese and Robert Herjavec have?
Three: son Brendan (b. 1993) and daughters Skye (b. 1996) and Caprice (b. 1998).
Why did Plese leave her optometry career?
She reduced her hours after becoming a mother and eventually left the profession entirely, a decision the courts later treated as a significant factor in the divorce settlement.
How much spousal support was Robert Herjavec ordered to pay?
Reported figures range from about $124,000 to $125,000 per month, awarded on an indefinite basis and upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2020.
Is the Herjavec-Plese divorce case still relevant legally?
Yes — Plese v. Herjavec, 2020 ONCA 810, is cited in Canadian family law discussions of compensatory spousal support for career sacrifices made during a marriage.
