1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban watches during the Mavericks' 101-92 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, March 2, 2005. (Photo by Kirby Lee)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2013
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Mark Cuban attends DIRECTV Super Saturday Night Featuring Special Guest Justin Timberlake & Co-Hosted By Mark Cuban's AXS TV on February 2, 2013, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Neilson Barnard)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2013
1100 Commerce St, Dallas, TX 75242, United States
Mark Cuban speaks with the media after leaving the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Dallas on September 30, 2013. (Photo by Stewart F. House)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2014
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Mark Cuban attends the 2014 IPL 500 Festival Parade during the 2014 Indy 500 Festival on May 24, 2014, in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2015
1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban talks to a referee during a timeout in the game with the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on April 12, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2016
2325 3rd St #403, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
Jerry Jones (L) and AXS TV Chairman, CEO, and President Mark Cuban attend the DirecTV Super Saturday Night co-hosted by Mark Cuban's AXS TV at Pier 70 on February 6, 2016, in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2016
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Mark Cuban attends the Disney ABC Television Group TCA Summer Press Tour on August 4, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Mike Windle)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2016
9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Robert Herjavec, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O'Leary attend the "Shark Tank" Season 8 Premiere at the Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills on September 23, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2016
123 W 43rd St, New York, NY 10036, United States
Arianna Huffington and Mark Cuban speak onstage during the THRIVE with Arianna Huffington panel at The Town Hall during 2016 Advertising Week New York on September 28, 2016, in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2017
3400 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States
Mark Cuban (C) with Tiffany Stewart (L) and Alyssa Cuban, Alexis Sofia Cuban, and Jake Cuban at Nickelodeon's 2017 Kids' Choice Awards at USC Galen Center on March 11, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2017
3780 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89158, United States
Mark Cuban attends the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Granitz)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2017
3780 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89158, United States
Mark Cuban attends the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at the T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Livingston)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2017
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Mark Cuban attends the Disney ABC Television Group TCA summer press tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 6, 2017, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2017
Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, United States
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Mark Cuban speak onstage at The New York Times 2017 DealBook Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center on November 9, 2017, in New York City. (Photo by Michael Cohen)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2018
1 Austin Terrace, Toronto, ON M5R 1X8, Canada
Kevin O'Leary and Mark Cuban attend Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary launch symposium celebrating global entrepreneurship at Casa Loma on April 5, 2018, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by GP Images)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2018
6 St Johns Ln, New York, NY 10013, United States
Mark Cuban attends the Tribeca Talks Panel: 10 Years Of "Shark Tank" during the 2018 Tribeca TV Festival at Spring Studios on September 23, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2018
6 St Johns Ln, New York, NY 10013, United States
Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O'Leary attend the Tribeca Talks Panel: 10 Years Of "Shark Tank" during the 2018 Tribeca TV Festival at Spring Studios on September 23, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2018
Mark Cuban
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2019
4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10001, United States
Mark Cuban smiles during the game between the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden on January 30, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Elsa)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2019
Mark Cuban
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2019
Av. de las Granjas 800, Santa Barbara, Azcapotzalco, 02230 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks looks on during a game between Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons at Arena Ciudad de Mexico on December 12, 2019, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2020
2601 Avenue of the Stars, Frisco, TX 75034, United States
Mark Cuban owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doni of the Dallas Mavericks watch the game between the Texas Legends and the Salt Lake City Stars on January 20, 2020, at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tim Heitman)
Gallery of Mark Cuban
2020
601 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33132, United States
Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks reacts against the Miami Heat during the second half at American Airlines Arena on February 28, 2020, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves)
1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban watches during the Mavericks' 101-92 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, March 2, 2005. (Photo by Kirby Lee)
Mark Cuban attends DIRECTV Super Saturday Night Featuring Special Guest Justin Timberlake & Co-Hosted By Mark Cuban's AXS TV on February 2, 2013, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Neilson Barnard)
Mark Cuban speaks with the media after leaving the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Dallas on September 30, 2013. (Photo by Stewart F. House)
Mark Cuban attends the 2014 IPL 500 Festival Parade during the 2014 Indy 500 Festival on May 24, 2014, in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey)
1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, United States
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban talks to a referee during a timeout in the game with the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on April 12, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn)
2325 3rd St #403, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
Jerry Jones (L) and AXS TV Chairman, CEO, and President Mark Cuban attend the DirecTV Super Saturday Night co-hosted by Mark Cuban's AXS TV at Pier 70 on February 6, 2016, in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola)
9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Robert Herjavec, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O'Leary attend the "Shark Tank" Season 8 Premiere at the Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills on September 23, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards)
Arianna Huffington and Mark Cuban speak onstage during the THRIVE with Arianna Huffington panel at The Town Hall during 2016 Advertising Week New York on September 28, 2016, in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic)
3400 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States
Mark Cuban (C) with Tiffany Stewart (L) and Alyssa Cuban, Alexis Sofia Cuban, and Jake Cuban at Nickelodeon's 2017 Kids' Choice Awards at USC Galen Center on March 11, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz)
9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States
Mark Cuban attends the Disney ABC Television Group TCA summer press tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 6, 2017, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris)
Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023, United States
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Mark Cuban speak onstage at The New York Times 2017 DealBook Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center on November 9, 2017, in New York City. (Photo by Michael Cohen)
Kevin O'Leary and Mark Cuban attend Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary launch symposium celebrating global entrepreneurship at Casa Loma on April 5, 2018, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by GP Images)
Mark Cuban attends the Tribeca Talks Panel: 10 Years Of "Shark Tank" during the 2018 Tribeca TV Festival at Spring Studios on September 23, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil)
Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O'Leary attend the Tribeca Talks Panel: 10 Years Of "Shark Tank" during the 2018 Tribeca TV Festival at Spring Studios on September 23, 2018, in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil)
4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10001, United States
Mark Cuban smiles during the game between the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden on January 30, 2019, in New York City. (Photo by Elsa)
Av. de las Granjas 800, Santa Barbara, Azcapotzalco, 02230 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks looks on during a game between Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons at Arena Ciudad de Mexico on December 12, 2019, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas)
2601 Avenue of the Stars, Frisco, TX 75034, United States
Mark Cuban owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doni of the Dallas Mavericks watch the game between the Texas Legends and the Salt Lake City Stars on January 20, 2020, at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Tim Heitman)
Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks reacts against the Miami Heat during the second half at American Airlines Arena on February 28, 2020, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves)
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It
(Using the greatest material from his popular Blog Maveric...)
Using the greatest material from his popular Blog Maverick, Cuban has collected and updated his postings on business and life to provide a catalog of insider knowledge on what it takes to become a thriving entrepreneur.
Mark Cuban is an American businessman, entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. Cuban founded video portal Broadcast dot com in 1995 and sold it to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999. Today he owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and has stakes in Magnolia Pictures, AXS TV, and dozens of small startups. He is also an active investor and regularly appears on ABC's reality series, Shark Tank.
Background
Ethnicity:
Mark Cuban's family, of Eastern European Jewish descent. His maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Romania. His parental grandfather, who emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island, and changed his surname from "Chabenisky" to "Cuban", was also Jewish.
Mark Cuban was born on July 31, 1958, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, to Norton and Shirley Cuban. Cuban had a typical middle-class childhood. His father, Norton, spent nearly half a century working at a car upholstery shop. His grandfather, Morris Chobanisky, emigrated from Russia and fed his family by selling merchandise out of the back of a truck.
In 2020, Cuban told that being Jewish made him more empathetic. He said one-quarter of his mother’s family was murdered in the Holocaust and, when his grandparents came to America from Russia, "they didn’t come here because they thought the weather was nice. They came here because if they didn’t leave they’d be dead."
Education
As a child, Cuban attended Mount Lebanon High School at Pennsylvania. Even at a young age, he managed to earn money by doing part-time jobs. Since the age of 12, Mark has been a natural businessman. Selling garbage bags door to door, the seed was planted early on for what would eventually become long-term success. He earned extra dollars any way he could. He earned his way to college by collecting and selling stamps, and once gained about $1,100 from starting a chain letter.
Cuban's go-getter attitude extended to the classroom as well. He started taking psychology classes at the University of Pittsburgh during his junior year of high school. He then skipped his senior year and enrolled full time at the college. However, after a year he transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington.
Needing to make money to continue his education (he was paying his own tuition) Cuban started giving dance lessons. That endeavor soon led him to host lavish disco parties at the Bloomington National Guard Armory. In 1981, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Mark Cuban had a flair for business from a young age. Even while studying at Indiana University, he had engaged himself in a variety of businesses like managing a pub, chain letters, etc. After graduating in 1981, Cuban moved back to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank, just as the company was ready to switch over to computers. Cuban immersed himself in the study of machines and networking. However, he had no real desire to hang out in his home city for too long, and in 1982 he left Pittsburgh for Dallas.
He got his start in the early 1980s selling software for a company called Your Business Software. In 1982, he started his own company, MicroSolutions. His previous experience in this field gave him the knowledge and skills required to initiate the business. He started by reselling computer software. He sold the company eight years later for $6 million. Cuban made $2 million off the deal.
His fortune making, however, was far from done. Sensing that a new world awaited with the development of the Internet, Cuban and a business partner, Indiana alum Todd Wagner, started AudioNet an internet radio company, in 1995. The idea for this business came from their combined interest in listening to Indiana Hoosier college basketball games online. Audionet was renamed Broadcast dot com in 1998. In 1999, Broadcast dot com assisted in the launch of Victoria’s Secret’s maiden live-stream fashion show.
The company, despite its early critics, proved to be a smashing success. The site streamed broadcasts of sports games, political conventions, and other events. The firm went public in 1998 and soon saw its stock reach $200 a share. In 1999, Yahoo acquired Broadcast dot com for $5.7 billion in stock. Cuban netted $1 billion when he sold his shares.
After selling his company to Yahoo, Mark Cuban invested his wealth in diverse businesses. In 2000, he purchased the NBA team Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from Ross Perot Jr. For Cuban, a longtime season ticket holder, the chance to be a part of the professional sports world was a dream. The Mavericks, however, were far from a dream franchise.
Plagued by poor personnel decisions and mediocre players and coaches, the club experienced more than a decade of non-playoff basketball games. Cuban used his new role as the owner to immediately change that. With his trademark enthusiasm and doggedness, he revamped the culture of the team and its roster, erecting a new stadium and pampering his players.
Cuban showed himself to be the club's biggest booster. Choosing to sit with the fans, Cuban egged on opponents and derided refs, and the Mavericks responded positively to the new owner's zeal. The team qualified for the playoffs in 2001, set a franchise record for wins (57) the following year, and made it to the 2006 NBA Finals before losing to the Miami Heat. In 2011, the Mavericks finally won the NBA title by defeating the Heat.
Mark Cuban, along with partner Todd Wagner, founded a media group named 2929 Entertainment in 2003. 2929 co-produced a renewed version of the television show Star Search that year. The same year, the partners purchased Landmark Theatres, the largest movie theatre chain in the United States. Subsequently, film distributor, Magnolia Pictures became a subsidiary of 2929 Entertainment.
Cuban made a big foray into the high-definition TV market with HDNet (later AXS TV); launched his own reality TV series; and on the advice of his young daughter, became a contestant on Dancing with the Stars in 2007. In 2011, he began his long run as one of the investors on the popular series Shark Tank. Over the course of his years-long stint on the show, Cuban has made close to 100 deals and has invested millions of dollars in startups and small businesses.
Cuban also brought his business acumen to the world of film and television production by purchasing the Landmark Theatres chain and Magnolia Pictures in 2003. He's listed as an executive producer for such acclaimed movies as Goodnight and Good Luck (2005) and Akeelah and the Bee (2006) and further augmented his own celebrity with appearances in the popular TV series Entourage and The League. In 2015, Cuban also showed up in the big-screen version of Entourage and starred as the United States President Marcus Robbins in the disaster flick Sharknado 3.
Cuban also invested in the e-sports betting platform Unikrn in June 2015. The following year, he bought a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Mark Cuban has donated money to Democrats and Republicans. He supported Hilary Clinton during her 2016 Presidential campaign. In April 2020, with Joe Biden emerging as the presumptive Democratic opponent to President Trump, Cuban again suggested that he was open to a presidential run.
Views
Mark Cuban has given to numerous charities over the years, including Autism Speaks, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Quotations:
"It doesn't matter if the glass is half-empty or half-full, all that matters is that you're the one pouring."
"The one thing in life you can control is your effort."
"I hate politics. It's slimy. Any job where people pander for votes I don't like. The country has gotten so partisan that if you're not on my side, you're the enemy."
Membership
During his time at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban became a member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.
Pi Lambda Phi
Personality
Mark Cuban is an ardent fan of Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand. He has mentioned that reading the book The Fountainhead allowed him to think as an individual, take risks to achieve success, and take responsibility for failures.
Interests
dancing
Philosophers & Thinkers
Ayn Rand
Writers
How to Retire by the Age of 35 by Paul Terhorst, The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie, Call Me Ted by Ted Turner, The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis
Sport & Clubs
basketball
Music & Bands
Prince, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, John Mellencamp, Jon Bon Jovi
Connections
Mark Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in 2002 in Barbados. They have three children: Alexis Sofia (born 2003), Alyssa (born 2006), and Jake (born 2010).