Mark Cuban
He's brash, outspoken—and hates to lose
Interview by Stephen Pope - June 1, 2010
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban claims he can type 50 words a minute on his BlackBerry. He uses e-mail for nearly all his business correspondence, saying it keeps him in constant contact with the people who need to reach him and is far more efficient than picking up the phone. So when Cuban suggested our interview with him be conducted entirely by e-mail, we e-mailed him back and said OK.
The 51-year-old’s affinity for digital communication should come as no surprise when you consider his background. Cuban pocketed about $2 billion from the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo at the height of the dot-com boom. He’s also in the Guinness Book of World Records for completing the largest e-commerce transaction ever, paying $40 million in late 1999 to buy a new Gulfstream V online without ever setting foot on the airplane.
Most people know Cuban as the brash and outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He has amassed more league fines than any owner in NBA history, earning him high praise from fans and brutal verbal floggings up and down the sports radio dial. A certain segment of the population may be more familiar with Cuban for his brief appearance as a contestant on the ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars. (In his younger days, he made money as a disco dancing instructor, bar owner and party promoter.)
Cuban became a millionaire at 31 by selling MicroSolutions, the computer systems integration company he founded after graduating from Indiana University. He’s also the founder of HDNet, the first HDTV cable network, and the chairman of Landmark Theaters, the largest art house theater chain in the U.S.
The one thing anybody really needs to know about Cuban is that he loves to win–and, by extension, hates to lose. Whether he’s playing in a pickup basketball game or is hunkered in a boardroom negotiating a multimillion-dollar deal, he approaches the situation the same way–as sport. And in sports, you play to win the game.
Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks in 2000 from Ross Perot Jr. and immediately turned the team from the NBA’s doormat into a perennial conference championship contender, in part by lavishing money and perks on star players. The team’s Boeing 757 includes a weight room, oversized seats and a facility for trainers to provide medical treatment. Each player’s locker includes a personal entertainment system.
Perot Jr., who still owns a small stake in the Mavericks, sued Cuban in May, claiming he has run up $200 million in team debt. Cuban’s typical, no-holds-barred response? “Perot’s complaint is a joke, and in my opinion, so is he.”
You’re the most visible and combative owner in the NBA. It’s a formula that has led to a lot of success with the Mavericks. What’s been your strategy for turning the team around?
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