Who is Eli Crane?
Eli Crane was born in Tucson, Arizona, and studied at Arizona Western College and the University of Arizona. He served in the U.S. Navy from 2001 to 2014, including five deployments with SEAL Team 3. After his brother, a Marine Corps helicopter pilot, gave him a bottle opener made from a .50-caliber cartridge, Crane saw a product.
He and his wife, Jen Crane, started Bottle Breacher in a single-car garage in San Diego, turning spent bullet casings into bottle openers. On Shark Tank Season 6, in an episode that aired in November 2014, the couple asked $150,000 for 10%. Mark Cuban and Kevin O'Leary each put in $75,000 for a combined 20%. The company expanded its line of military-themed gifts and was reported at more than $20 million in annual sales by 2019, while donating to hundreds of military and veteran charities.
The Cranes sold Bottle Breacher in 2022 to Mike and Amber Wall. That same year Crane was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona's 2nd congressional district, and he won re-election in 2024.
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