Mark Cuban says he’s happy with 1% of his $4.6 billion net worth
Bruno Mars might be dying to become a billionaire, but entrepreneur Mark Cuban doesn’t think so.
In a CBS Sunday Morning interview, Cuban easily turned down his billions. When asked if he would be happy with 1% of his net worth, he enthusiastically replied, “Yes. If I had my same family and everything, sure.”
It’s easier to give up 99% of your wealth when, like Cubans, you’re worth $4.6 billion, which would still leave him a whopping $46 million. A self-made billionaire, Cuban has founded 10 companies, personally invested millions in 231 startups and holds a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks. His big break as a billionaire came when he sold Broadcast.com, which he bought with business partner Todd Wagner in 1995, to Yahoo after the site had its best-ever IPO (later thought to be one of its worst takeovers ever). .
But Kuban’s perceived indifference to his billions is a little surprising, considering he always seemed to enjoy his wealth. The shark once spent his days plodding around the world in his own private jet, splitting time between his $13 million Dallas mansion, an apartment near Central Park and a waterfront home in Laguna Beach. “It’s obviously brutally expensive, but time is the only commodity we just don’t have,” he once wrote in a Men’s Journal column about the jet’s purchase. “It saves me hours and hours.”
As Forbes’ Jemima McEvoy put it, Cuban “partyed like a rock star.” He originally wanted to retire and do just that after selling his first company, MicroSolutions, when he was just 32 years old.
“I made about $2 million net after tax,” Cuban told CBS about the deal. “I bought a lifetime pass for American Airlines and [I said] I won’t work, I’ll just party like a rock star in as many countries as possible.”
Instead, he moved to Broadcast.com. Cuban’s competitive nature and eagle eye have served him well in increasing his wealth ever since. “Nobody should have that much wealth, but it is what it is,” he told McEvory. “You’re making the best of it, and I don’t feel guilty at all.”
These days, he spends his time as a Shark Tank judge, hitching his wagon to crypto. He still comes off as a bit of a character Schott’s Creekthe purchase of the abandoned town of Mustang, Texas, in 2021 (a gesture for a dying friend).
But perhaps the Cuban has squeezed most of his high-roller days out of his system if he can envision life as a millionaire, not a billionaire.
“When I was in my 20s, my 30s and my early 40s, it was all about how much money I could make,” he told CBS. “But at this point in my life, where the next dollar I bring in isn’t going to change my life, my kids’ lives, their kids’ lives, the capitalist reward comes from impact.”
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