Luka Dakskobler/SOPA Images/Shutterstock / Luka Dakskobler/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Mark Cuban began building his fortune in 1990 with the sale of his technology startup, MicroSolutions.Three decades later, his business ventures and stakes in the sports and entertainment industries have helped his net worth skyrocket.
Find Out:20 Genius Things Mark Cuban Says To Do With Your MoneyLearn More:Musk, Bezos, Buffett and Gates Among Forbes’ Richest Billionaires — How Much Money Do They Have?
Mark Cuban’s Net Worth
Some fast facts about Mark Cuban:
- Net worth: $4.7 billion
- Age: 62
- Primary sources of wealth: shareholder in Magnolia Pictures and AXS TV, investments
- Owner of the Dallas Mavericks
The billionaire has made most of his money through media companies and investments but also expressed a passing interest in running for president in 2020.
Media Ventures and Investments
The start of Cuban’s successful business career came shortly after his college days when he founded the computer consulting company MicroSolutions. In 1990, he sold the company to CompuServe and used profits from the sale to create Broadband.com, an audio streaming service. Broadband.com eventually was sold to Yahoo, Inc. for $5.7 billion. Cuban currently has stakes in Magnolia Pictures and AXS TV. He and business partner Todd Wagner sold the Landmark Theatres chain in 2018, and Cuban sold majority ownership of HDNet, the parent of TV networks AXS TV and HDNet Movies, the following year.
Cuban has been appearing as a “shark” investor on the reality competition show “Shark Tank” since 2011. In 2015, he proposed what at the time was the largest deal in the show’s history — to purchase popular dating app Coffee Meets Bagel — but the $30 million offer was turned down.
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Sports Team Success
The mogul is also the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.Under Cuban’s guidance, the NBA team — bought for $285 million — has reached a value of $2.45 billion. The Mavericks won their first and only NBA championship in 2011. As of May 2021, they were listed as the ninth most valuable NBA team by Forbes.
On the May 7, 2021, episode of “Shark Tank,” Cuban and co-panelist Barbara Corcoran joined forces to invest a combined $250,000 in GRIND, a fledgling company that makes a portable basketball shooting machine. The device allows a player to take about 1,000 shots an hour.
New Ventures
Cuban expanded his empire in January 2022 to include discount prescription drug mail order service, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. The company’s mission statement notes it is not only providing medications at reduced prices but is being transparent as to how much these generic drugs cost Cost Plus Drug Co. to purchase. Medications are marked up 15% across the board and each prescription has a $3 pharmacy dispensing fee and $5 shipping fee. With insurance, medications could cost even less. So much so, that the Annals of Internal Medicine believes Medicare would save $3.6 billion per year if it used Cuban’s company.
Focus on Business
A native of Pittsburgh, Cuban showed a business-savvy nature and an affinity for startups during his youth when he worked as a door-to-door garbage bag salesman at the age of 12 and taught disco lessons to pay for his studies at Indiana University. During part of his time in college, Cuban was the co-owner of a popular bar near campus, using his student loan money to invest.As he has become more and more successful, he has been vocal regarding his ideas about money and finance.
Despite being an established business figure, Cuban still makes sure to keep in touch with others he can share ideas with or learn from. He confessed in a Spring 2021 interview with the Up Only podcast that he’s part of an exclusive Snapchat group with fellow billionaires, including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
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Philanthropic Work
Beyond entrepreneurship and investing, Cuban has shown interest in giving back as well. Founded and funded by The Mark Cuban Foundation, the Fallen Patriot Fund first provided financial assistance to the families of soldiers who were killed or seriously injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, it helps the families of military members or first responders who were killed or seriously injured on the job. The fund has provided more than $5 million in grants to families.
Lorina Morton contributed to the reporting for this article.
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