If you are not acquainted with the yearly roster of billionaires as published by Forbes magazine, you are less likely to be familiar with Mark Cuban’s net worth and your only knowledge of him limited to his charming appearances on the popular ABC show, Shark Tank, but do not be fooled – he is one of the richest people in the world and he owns one of the most significant assets a person could own in America, an NBA team.
Mark Cuban often cuts the figure of a regular guy and he is one of a few billionaires who make regular appearances on TV in acting capacities, but he is considered an astute and ruthless businessman who made his wealth through old fashioned means – cutting deals. Here is Mark Cuban’s net worth along with details about how he makes and spends his money.
Mark Cuban’s Net Worth
At a net worth of $4.1 billion, Mark Cuban is comfortably one of the richest persons in America, in fact, he is one of the twenty-five richest in the country.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-born businessman began his journey in business at the age of 12 when he began selling garbage bags to pay for expensive basketball shoes. By the age of 16, he graduated to selling newspapers between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
His business-oriented mind has since made him grow from selling newspapers to owning one of the most valuable sports teams in the United States. Mark Cuban’s first dive into the world of business as an adult began in college where he owned a bar, operated disco lessons and a chain letter.
After college, he found work as a salesperson for Your Business Software, where he worked for a year before he was fired and he went on to establish his own company, MicroSolutions. Mark Cuban’s net worth got its first major boost after he grew the software retail company into a successful business, eventually selling it off for $6 million.
Cuban then started another business, Audionet which eventually became Broadcast.com. The business achieved a great deal of success during the dot com boom and was eventually acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock, giving Cuban his first taste of a billionaire status after he sold his share of the company for $1 billion.
After a year, he bought the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million and he has nurtured the team to a franchise worth of $1.9 billion, as well as on the court successes like regular features in playoffs and an NBA finals victory in 2011.
Aside from the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban has made his money also through owning a chain of movie theatres via the entertainment company, 2929 Entertainment. The company is also into movie and TV show production.
Other investments which have earned Mark Cuban some money include IceRocket, Magnolia Pictures and several others.
How Does Mark Cuban Spend His Money?
When you have Mark Cuban’s net worth, there is no limit to how you can enjoy yourself and splurge on some of life’s biggest and most luxurious offerings. One of them is a private jet, a Jetstream plane he bought over the internet for $40 million. Although he bought the jet in 1999, it still maintains the Guinness Book of Records as the largest single e-commerce transaction in history.
Other noteworthy luxurious expenses of Mark Cuban include his Dallas mansion which has 10 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms, a tennis court, pool, and a separate guest house. The location of the mansion makes him a neighbor of the former president, George W. Bush. He bought the mansion for $17.6 million in 1999. Aside from his jet and his mansion, Cuban also owns a yacht.
While he does engage in a bit of lavish spending like every other billionaire, Mark Cuban’s net worth has also been spent on multiple fines from the NBA for his behavior as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. The billionaire has gained notoriety for his animated behavior on the sidelines of every Dallas Mavericks game, which has gotten him fined over 13 times.
Also, as a member of Shark Tank, he has spent over $20 million of his money across over 85 deals on the show.
Mark Cuban is also a philanthropist who has donated several millions of dollars to charity. He famously matches each fine the NBA gives him and donates it to charity. He also founded the Fallen Patriot Fund through which he donates and helps US military personnel who were killed or wounded during the Iraq War.
