WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.379 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, we are 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:05.639 taking on a true giant of business and media, 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:08.859 Mark Cuban. You've seen him on Shark Tank. You've 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.259 seen him yelling from the courtside seats. But 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:13.599 his career is so much more than that. It's really 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.820 about this relentless hunt for inefficiency. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:19.359 And we're going to start with a single purchase 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.500 that just perfectly captures who he is. Oh, you 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:24.000 have to be talking about the jet, October 1999. 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:28.480 Exactly. The Gulfstream V. private jet. And this 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.699 wasn't just him, you know, splurging. This single 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:34.539 transaction, which was $40 million, was actually 00:00:34.539 --> 00:00:36.280 certified by the Guinness World Records. For 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:38.740 what, though? As the largest single e -commerce 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:41.399 transaction in history at that time. $40 million 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:45.719 for a jet? Bought completely online, sight unseen? 00:00:46.020 --> 00:00:48.000 I mean, that's not just buying a luxury item. 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:50.000 No, it's a statement. It was a massive statement 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:52.060 about the future of the internet and, frankly, 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:53.960 about the audacity of the guy who had just hit 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.490 the dot -com lottery. And that's the guy we're 00:00:56.490 --> 00:00:58.750 digging into today. An American businessman, 00:00:59.049 --> 00:01:02.170 an investor, a TV personality. And as of May 00:01:02.170 --> 00:01:05.510 2025, Forbes has his net worth at, what, around 00:01:05.510 --> 00:01:09.010 $6 billion? At least $6 billion, yeah. And our 00:01:09.010 --> 00:01:11.609 mission today is to really get pad that public 00:01:11.609 --> 00:01:13.530 image for you. We've gone through the source 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:15.489 material to find the pattern. The pattern, okay. 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:17.310 Yeah, how does a kid from a working class suburb 00:01:17.310 --> 00:01:21.370 of Pittsburgh get there? And... Maybe more importantly, 00:01:21.450 --> 00:01:24.650 how does he use that money now? We're looking 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:28.129 for those surprising facts, the aha moments that 00:01:28.129 --> 00:01:30.030 really show his method. And we have a ton of 00:01:30.030 --> 00:01:32.290 sources to unpack here. We're covering his entire 00:01:32.290 --> 00:01:35.930 career arc, his perfectly timed escape from the 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:38.609 dot -com crash, his really controversial run 00:01:38.609 --> 00:01:41.590 as a sports owner. Not to mention the legal fights 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:43.969 that shaped his whole view on government and 00:01:43.969 --> 00:01:46.230 his newest and maybe biggest disruption yet, 00:01:46.370 --> 00:01:49.439 taking on the health care industry. With cost 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:51.540 plus drugs. Right. And that's the thread that 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:53.099 connects all of it, isn't it? This willingness 00:01:53.099 --> 00:01:55.319 to challenge the big established institutions. 00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:59.480 Absolutely. He's taken on the NBA, the SEC, the 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:01.659 entire pharmaceutical supply chain. We're going 00:02:01.659 --> 00:02:05.260 to analyze how that anti -establishment efficiency 00:02:05.260 --> 00:02:08.240 first mindset really became the bedrock of his 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.780 entire empire. OK, let's do it. Let's unpack 00:02:10.780 --> 00:02:13.400 this and let's start where the sources tell us 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.379 it all began with the origins of that hustle. 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:20.180 Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Right. And when 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.219 we talk about his background, it's so important 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:24.639 to get that he didn't come from money or tech 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:28.680 privilege. He was born in 1958. His father, Norton 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.620 Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. A skilled 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:34.620 trade, for sure, but very working class. Exactly. 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:37.900 And his mom, Shirley, was described as someone 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:39.400 who was always looking for the next thing you 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:41.530 know. a different job or different career goal 00:02:41.530 --> 00:02:43.629 every other week. So it sounds like the environment 00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:46.270 at home was just one of constant practical hustle. 00:02:46.430 --> 00:02:47.969 He didn't just wait around for an allowance. 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:51.030 Not at all. The sources show this drive started 00:02:51.030 --> 00:02:54.969 early. We're talking age 12. He wasn't just selling 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:57.050 garbage bags for some pocket money. No, he was 00:02:57.050 --> 00:02:59.409 selling them for a very specific reason. A very 00:02:59.409 --> 00:03:02.330 specific reason. To afford a pair of expensive 00:03:02.330 --> 00:03:05.349 sneakers he wanted. That's a direct line between 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.169 I want this thing and I need to do the work to 00:03:08.169 --> 00:03:10.610 get it. He learned that years before any business 00:03:10.610 --> 00:03:13.469 class. It's like early arbitrage, right? He sees 00:03:13.469 --> 00:03:15.830 a demand. He finds a supply, even if it's just 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:18.370 trash bags. And he goes door to door to make 00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:20.289 the capital. That's the perfect way to put it. 00:03:20.330 --> 00:03:22.449 And a few years later, he's selling stamps and 00:03:22.449 --> 00:03:25.430 coins. But the real flash of genius, I think, 00:03:25.430 --> 00:03:28.229 comes when he's about 16. The newspaper strike. 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:30.289 You have to tell us this story because it shows 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:33.050 such a sophisticated grasp of logistics for a 00:03:33.050 --> 00:03:35.750 teenager. It's incredible. Yeah. So a newspaper 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:38.979 strike. Hits Pittsburgh, shuts down all the local 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:42.000 distribution. Anyone else sees a problem. Cuban 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.120 sees a market vacuum. An opportunity. A huge 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:47.840 one. He starts running papers, probably the plane 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.340 dealer, all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, back 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:52.960 to Pittsburgh, where nobody could get one. He's 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.639 literally bridging a supply gap across state 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.099 lines. It's a physical version of what he'd later 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:00.699 do digitally. He finds a place where the established 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:02.960 system is failing and he steps in to deliver 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:05.780 the product. Exactly. And that same practical 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:09.000 financial first mindset completely dictated his 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:11.879 next move, even his choice of college, which 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:14.360 is a huge insight from the sources. Right. He 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:16.420 didn't pick the Kelly School of Business at Indiana 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:18.819 University because it was some Ivy League dream 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:21.319 school. Not even close. He picked it for one 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:23.959 reason, and he's admitted this himself. He said 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:26.959 it had the least expensive tuition of all the 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.199 business schools on the top 10 list. He didn't 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:31.639 even visit the campus before he enrolled. No. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.839 This was not about prestige. It was about minimizing 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.180 his initial investment to maximize the long -term 00:04:38.180 --> 00:04:41.459 return of the degree. It's pure cost -benefit 00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:44.420 analysis on a life decision. That is so revealing. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.040 And of course, once he gets to Indiana, the hustle 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:49.300 just continues. He's running side ventures. Yeah, 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.100 a campus bar. He was teaching disco lessons. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:54.199 He even ran a chain letter at one point. But 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:57.199 these weren't just jobs. They were. They were 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:00.139 his real world MBA. That's it. He was learning 00:05:00.139 --> 00:05:02.600 management, inventory, cash flow, marketing, 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:05.040 all while he was technically getting his degree 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.060 in management. He was living it. So after he 00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:10.560 graduates in 81. He does a short stand at Mellon 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.180 Bank, learns about computer networking, and then 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:15.360 he makes the move that changes everything. He 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.899 goes to Dallas? He arrives in Dallas in 1982, 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:20.899 starts out bartending, then he gets a sales job 00:05:20.899 --> 00:05:24.040 at a PC software store called Your Business Software. 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:26.959 And this is where his story takes a sharp turn 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.439 away from the conventional career path. Because 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.459 he gets fired. Fired within a year. Yeah. And 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:35.000 the story is famous because it just... perfectly 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:38.459 illustrates his problem with rigid corporate 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:40.480 thinking. He was out meeting a client, right? 00:05:40.579 --> 00:05:42.800 Trying to close a new deal instead of being physically 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:44.819 in the store to unlock the doors in the morning. 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:46.899 Exactly. The company cared about punching the 00:05:46.899 --> 00:05:49.199 clock. Cuban cared about making the company money. 00:05:50.110 --> 00:05:52.810 Complete clash of philosophies. And getting fired 00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:54.709 was the best thing that could have happened to 00:05:54.709 --> 00:05:56.850 him. It was the direct catalyst for his first 00:05:56.850 --> 00:05:59.370 big win. The customers he'd been working with 00:05:59.370 --> 00:06:02.230 at that old job. They became the first clients 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:05.240 for his new company, Microsolutions. Which he 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:07.399 co -founded with a guy named Martin Woodall. 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:09.060 And they weren't just selling software. They 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:11.779 were selling networking solutions for businesses. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.579 Right. This is early days for things like Novell 00:06:14.579 --> 00:06:17.120 Networks and Lotus Notes. They were building 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.759 the digital plumbing for corporations. And they 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:21.980 were good at it. They landed big clients like 00:06:21.980 --> 00:06:24.639 Perot Systems, which is a huge deal. And the 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:26.519 business just took off with the rest of the corporate 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:31.839 PC boom in the late 80s. Exploded. By 1990, MicroSolutions 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:35.899 is doing over $30 million in revenue. He sells 00:06:35.899 --> 00:06:38.220 the company to CompuServe, which was part of 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:41.680 H &R Block, for $6 million. And after taxes and 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.439 paying his partners, he walks away with about 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.360 $2 million. $2 million. A fantastic first exit. 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:49.160 But, you know, it was just the appetizer for 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:51.360 the main course. The dot -com windfall. This 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:54.139 is where the timing, the idea, and just the sheer 00:06:54.139 --> 00:06:56.500 audacity all come together. Audionet. It starts 00:06:56.500 --> 00:07:00.100 in 1995. He and another Indiana alum, Todd Wagner, 00:07:00.300 --> 00:07:02.500 they just wanted to listen to their Indiana Hoosiers 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:05.870 basketball games online. But the local radio 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:07.910 feeds weren't being broadcast over the Internet. 00:07:08.069 --> 00:07:10.410 So they saw a niche, a personal problem that 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:13.350 a lot of other people probably had. And the initial 00:07:13.350 --> 00:07:16.040 setup, according to the sources. was so basic, 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:17.939 they started this thing with just a single server 00:07:17.939 --> 00:07:20.379 and one ISDN line. It's practically a garage 00:07:20.379 --> 00:07:22.800 project. But it solved a real need, and it scaled 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:25.279 up so fast. Right, because it wasn't just basketball 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:27.879 for long. They started streaming anything they 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.199 could get the rights to, niche radio shows, corporate 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:34.120 events. By 1998, they'd rebrand it as Broadcast 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:37.019 .com, doing live audio and video over the internet. 00:07:37.370 --> 00:07:38.910 And now we get to the timing, which is just, 00:07:38.930 --> 00:07:40.949 it's almost hard to believe. It's the first half 00:07:40.949 --> 00:07:44.350 of 1999. The dot -com bubble is at its absolute 00:07:44.350 --> 00:07:47.290 peak. Total mania. Broadcast .com has about 330 00:07:47.290 --> 00:07:50.550 employees. It's doing about $13 .5 million in 00:07:50.550 --> 00:07:53.009 revenue in the second quarter. It's not hugely 00:07:53.009 --> 00:07:55.250 profitable, but it's a content platform on the 00:07:55.250 --> 00:07:57.370 internet. And that's all that matters. And that's 00:07:57.370 --> 00:07:59.529 when Yahoo comes knocking. And this leads to 00:07:59.529 --> 00:08:02.029 one of the most famous acquisitions of that whole 00:08:02.029 --> 00:08:07.350 era. July 1999. Yahoo buys Broadcast .com for 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:12.129 $5 .7 billion. Billion. But here's the aha moment. 00:08:12.449 --> 00:08:14.769 This is the move that separates Mark Cuban from 00:08:14.769 --> 00:08:17.410 almost every other dot -com millionaire who went 00:08:17.410 --> 00:08:20.250 broke a year later. Because that $5 .7 billion 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:23.209 wasn't cash. It was all paid in Yahoo stock. 00:08:23.550 --> 00:08:26.730 Highly volatile, massively inflated Yahoo stock. 00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:29.170 Which made him incredibly vulnerable. If that 00:08:29.170 --> 00:08:31.610 stock price crashed, so did his entire fortune. 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:34.600 But it didn't. He has said over and over again 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.980 that the timing of the sale was just lucky. But 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:40.539 what he did next wasn't luck. It was financial 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:43.799 genius. He knew the valuations were insane. He 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:46.820 knew it couldn't last. So he hedged. Can you 00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:49.639 explain for our listener in simple terms what 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:51.659 that means when you're talking about billions 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:54.220 of dollars in stock? Sure. Hedging is basically 00:08:54.220 --> 00:08:56.799 buying insurance on your investment. He used 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.549 financial. tools, most likely things called put 00:08:59.549 --> 00:09:02.169 options and collars, to lock in the value of 00:09:02.169 --> 00:09:04.090 his Yahoo shares. So these tools would go up 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.590 in value if the Yahoo stock went down. Precisely. 00:09:06.649 --> 00:09:08.690 He essentially put a floor under his fortune. 00:09:08.789 --> 00:09:10.990 He gave up some of the potential upside if the 00:09:10.990 --> 00:09:14.029 stock kept climbing, but crucially, he protected 00:09:14.029 --> 00:09:16.549 himself from the downside if it crashed. He was 00:09:16.549 --> 00:09:18.570 basically betting against the stock of the company 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:21.149 that just bought him. Exactly. And of course, 00:09:21.149 --> 00:09:24.799 between 2000 and 2002, the bubble burst. The 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:27.580 market collapsed. Yahoo's stock price plummeted 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:30.159 that broadcast .com acquisition, which Yahoo 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.379 eventually just shut down. It's now called one 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:34.320 of the worst Internet acquisitions of all time. 00:09:34.419 --> 00:09:38.100 A total disaster for Yahoo. But for Cuban, because 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:41.100 he had hedged, he didn't lose his billions. He 00:09:41.100 --> 00:09:44.559 kept his capital safe. That move, that one strategic 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:47.480 decision was the firewall that protected everything 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:49.120 that came after. That's the difference between 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:51.879 getting lucky and staying lucky. Incredible foresight. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.509 And after that massive payday. He keeps working 00:09:54.509 --> 00:09:56.450 with Todd Wagner, right? They move into content. 00:09:56.629 --> 00:09:59.110 Yeah, they formed 2929 Entertainment, and they 00:09:59.110 --> 00:10:01.110 tried to do this vertical integration thing in 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:03.429 media, production, distribution, all of it. And 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:05.529 a big piece of that was buying Landmark Theaters 00:10:05.529 --> 00:10:08.970 in 2003. Right, a chain of 58 arthouse movie 00:10:08.970 --> 00:10:11.529 theaters. He also launched a high -def TV network 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:15.590 called HDNet, which later became AXS TV. He was 00:10:15.590 --> 00:10:17.669 moving his money from the pipes of the internet 00:10:17.669 --> 00:10:19.750 into the content that flowed through them. He 00:10:19.750 --> 00:10:22.870 was becoming a media mogul. And with this massive 00:10:22.870 --> 00:10:26.309 secure fortune, his investment strategy just 00:10:26.309 --> 00:10:29.450 it completely changes. It goes from these focus 00:10:29.450 --> 00:10:32.370 company builds to this sprawling portfolio of 00:10:32.370 --> 00:10:34.509 bets on the future. And Cuban's venture capital 00:10:34.509 --> 00:10:38.909 style has always been about volume and just. 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:41.879 pure breath. He wasn't afraid to bet on super 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:44.419 early high risk tech. Things like Ice Rocket, 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.580 the blog search engine or Weblogs Inc., which 00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:50.360 AOL eventually bought. And he also had this history 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:53.240 with people who had become, you know. titans 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:55.659 of the next wave of tech, most famously, Travis 00:10:55.659 --> 00:10:57.759 Kalanick. The guy who would go on to co -found 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:59.879 Uber. Cuban actually gave him seed money for 00:10:59.879 --> 00:11:02.059 his first company, right? He did. He put $1 .7 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:04.580 million into Kalanick's file sharing company, 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.899 Red Swoosh, back in 2005. So he had a profitable, 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:10.139 successful relationship with Kalanick before 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:12.919 Uber was even a thought. Exactly. And that context 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.600 is what makes the next part of the story so painful. 00:11:15.700 --> 00:11:18.220 It is the big whoops moment of his entire investment 00:11:18.220 --> 00:11:21.360 career. So it's 2009. Kalanick comes back to 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:24.779 Cuban. He's got this new idea, this little ride 00:11:24.779 --> 00:11:27.399 sharing startup called Uber. And the valuation 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:31.000 is only $10 million. And Cuban, you know, he's 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.440 a tough negotiator. He sees the pitch and he 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.679 counters. He says the valuation should be $5 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:38.139 million, not $10. He's trying to get a better 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:39.740 deal, get more of the company for his money. 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:42.659 But Kalanick said no. Kalanick just walked. Cuban 00:11:42.659 --> 00:11:44.519 stuck to his number and he had never heard back. 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:47.159 He completely missed the boat on Uber. A mistake 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:49.820 that's worth what? tens of billions of dollars 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:52.240 today, maybe more than his entire current net 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.240 worth. It's a staggering mess. And it's such 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:58.830 a fascinating look at investor psychology. Here's 00:11:58.830 --> 00:12:01.590 a guy who made his fortune on taking risks, but 00:12:01.590 --> 00:12:04.090 his focus on winning the deal made him lose out 00:12:04.090 --> 00:12:06.690 on what might be the single greatest VC opportunity 00:12:06.690 --> 00:12:09.529 of the last two decades. A very expensive lesson 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:11.929 that even the best investors can sometimes miss 00:12:11.929 --> 00:12:14.730 the forest for the trees. But his portfolio was 00:12:14.730 --> 00:12:17.230 definitely not just tech unicorns. He put money 00:12:17.230 --> 00:12:20.820 into some. Let's say unusual places. Oh, totally. 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:23.519 He famously invested in a company called Brondell 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.000 Inc., which makes high -tech bidet toilet seats. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.500 The swash. The swash, yeah. And then there was 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:31.639 the most whimsical purchase of all. The entire 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:35.000 town. The entire 77 -acre town of Mustang, Texas. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:38.879 He bought it in 2021. He told a reporter a friend 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.980 just needed to sell it and that he had, quote, 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:44.100 no idea what, if anything, I will do with it. 00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:46.179 That is the definition of having more money than 00:12:46.179 --> 00:12:48.320 you know what to do with. Which brings us to 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.159 his most public investment platform, Shark Tank. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.720 Right. He joined in 2011, season two, and he 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:57.179 was on for 14 seasons. He's planning to leave 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:00.879 after season 16 in 2025. And he totally changed 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.799 the show. He became the star. His volume of deals 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:06.480 was huge. The sources say he invested nearly 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:10.759 $20 million in 85 deals just in his first 100 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:13.000 or so episodes. But here's the reality check, 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:15.019 and the sources are really clear on this. The 00:13:15.019 --> 00:13:17.039 handshake you see on TV, that's not the final 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:19.700 deal. A lot of those deals fall apart later during 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:21.639 due diligence. Right, like that famous one for 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:24.139 the fire hose adapter, HiCon. It was a massive 00:13:24.139 --> 00:13:26.379 deal on air, over a million dollars, but it never 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:28.889 actually closed. It happens all the time. The 00:13:28.889 --> 00:13:30.809 show was entertainment first, a venture capital 00:13:30.809 --> 00:13:32.789 fund second. And this is where we get to the 00:13:32.789 --> 00:13:34.590 big contradiction that I think shocked a lot 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:37.750 of people. Despite some huge visible wins on 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:40.789 the show, companies like Rugged Maniac and Beatbox 00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:43.769 Beverages, Cuban admitted something in 2022. 00:13:44.570 --> 00:13:47.190 He admitted that his overall Shark Tank portfolio 00:13:47.190 --> 00:13:50.830 was a net loss. His exact words were, I've gotten 00:13:50.830 --> 00:13:53.220 beat. That's incredible. It's such a powerful 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:55.799 lesson, right? That even for a billionaire with 00:13:55.799 --> 00:13:58.299 a huge, diverse portfolio of these startups, 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:01.440 the failure rate is so high that you can still 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.200 end up in the red. It's the brutal math of seed 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:07.259 stage investing. And that same appetite for high 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:10.200 risk, high reward ventures led him straight into 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:12.259 the world of crypto. He's been a big proponent. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:13.840 You can see it with the Dallas Mavericks. They 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:16.700 started accepting Dogecoin for tickets and merchandise 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:19.899 back in 2021. And he didn't just accept it. He 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:22.409 endorsed it. He called Dogecoin the strongest 00:14:22.409 --> 00:14:25.049 crypto to be used as an actual medium of exchange. 00:14:25.409 --> 00:14:28.289 A pretty bold claim for a meme coin. But that 00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:30.889 kind of high profile boosterism led to some serious 00:14:30.889 --> 00:14:33.110 legal trouble. He and the Mavericks got named 00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:36.090 in a class action lawsuit in 2022. Right. Over 00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:38.269 his endorsement of the crypto lender Voyager 00:14:38.269 --> 00:14:41.350 Digital, which went bankrupt. The lawsuit basically 00:14:41.350 --> 00:14:43.509 alleged that he was promoting a Ponzi scheme. 00:14:44.090 --> 00:14:47.190 It raises huge questions about celebrity endorsements 00:14:47.190 --> 00:14:49.409 in these unregulated markets. And the risk wasn't 00:14:49.409 --> 00:14:52.269 just legal. It became personal. In September 00:14:52.269 --> 00:14:55.470 2023, he got hit by scammers himself. Yeah, he 00:14:55.470 --> 00:14:59.409 lost about $870 ,000 worth of crypto tokens straight 00:14:59.409 --> 00:15:02.490 out of his own digital wallet. Wow. So even a 00:15:02.490 --> 00:15:05.049 billionaire tech mogul isn't safe from the security 00:15:05.049 --> 00:15:08.389 risks in that world. It shows just how wild the 00:15:08.389 --> 00:15:11.470 wild west of crypto really is, which I think. 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.440 brings us to his most significant and maybe most 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:17.879 ambitious project to date. The one that targets 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:20.740 a system he sees as fundamentally broken. Costs 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:23.700 plus dreads. Launched in January 2022. This is 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.639 Cuban, taking that lifelong philosophy of finding 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.200 and crushing inefficiency and aiming it straight 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.559 at the U .S. health care system. The goal is 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.000 pure disruption through radical price transparency. 00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:36.340 And the idea actually came to him in an email, 00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:39.419 right? From a radiologist named Alex Oshmiansky. 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:42.200 That's right. Oshmansky pitched him on the core 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:45.379 idea, and Cuban provided the capital and the 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:48.019 platform to scale it up at an incredible speed. 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:51.259 So what's the model? How does it work? It's shockingly 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:53.960 simple. Yeah. They figure out the true manufacturing 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:57.320 cost of a generic drug. Then they add a flat 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:01.860 standard 15 % markup. Then a $5 dispensing fee 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:05.470 plus shipping. That's it. No hidden fees. No 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:08.750 secret rebates. The price is the price exactly 00:16:08.750 --> 00:16:12.970 and that sounds simple But in the context of 00:16:12.970 --> 00:16:15.409 American health care, it's a revolutionary act. 00:16:15.529 --> 00:16:17.590 Because he's going after the PBMs. He's going 00:16:17.590 --> 00:16:19.690 directly after the pharmacy benefit managers. 00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:22.769 For anyone listening, PBMs are the powerful middlemen 00:16:22.769 --> 00:16:24.509 between drug companies, insurance companies, 00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:26.830 and pharmacies. They negotiate all the prices 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:28.649 behind closed doors. And they make their money 00:16:28.649 --> 00:16:30.490 on the spread, right, the secret rebates they 00:16:30.490 --> 00:16:32.269 get from manufacturers that they don't necessarily 00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:34.370 pass on to the patient. That's the whole game. 00:16:34.529 --> 00:16:36.950 The system incentivizes high list prices and 00:16:36.950 --> 00:16:39.899 zero transparency. Cuban's model just bypasses 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:42.039 them entirely. He's basically calling out the 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:44.320 entire supply chain as corrupt and inefficient. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:48.559 And that desire to take on a powerful, entrenched 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.080 system. That's a theme we see over and over again. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.080 Nowhere more clearly than in his two decades 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.679 as the honor of an NBA team. Right. Let's talk 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:01.529 about the Mavericks. January 4, 2000. He buys 00:17:01.529 --> 00:17:04.029 a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks for 00:17:04.029 --> 00:17:08.069 $285 million. And it wasn't just a financial 00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:11.029 transaction. It was a complete cultural takeover. 00:17:11.130 --> 00:17:13.650 The change was immediate. The sources show that 00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:16.109 for the 20 years before he bought the team, the 00:17:16.109 --> 00:17:18.779 Mavs were a joke. They won only 40 percent of 00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:20.539 their games. And in the decade after he bought 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:22.779 them. They won 69 percent of their regular season 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:25.140 games. They went to the NBA finals for the first 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:27.140 time in 2006. And then they won the whole thing. 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.779 The NBA championship in 2011. And he completely 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:32.440 changed what an owner could be. He wasn't hiding 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:35.460 in a skybox. He was on the court in a team jersey 00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:38.119 yelling at the refs. He was a fan with the checkbook. 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:40.779 He'd fly to road games on his jet. It was this 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:44.180 super hands on highly emotional. Some would say 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:46.539 micromanaging style. Which of course put him 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:48.559 in. direct, and very expensive conflict with 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:51.720 the NBA league office. Constantly. The sources 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.900 have him racking up at least $1 .65 million in 00:17:55.900 --> 00:17:59.259 fines over 13 different incidents. And almost 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:01.700 all of them were for criticizing the referees. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.019 You have to tell the Dairy Queen story. It's 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:06.099 the perfect example of how he could turn a fine 00:18:06.099 --> 00:18:10.319 into a PR win. It's a classic. So in 2002, he 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.740 goes after the NBA's head of officials, Ed Rush, 00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.339 and says the guy wouldn't be able to manage a 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:18.059 Dairy Queen. So Dairy Queen corporate hears about 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:20.259 this and they lean into it. They invite him to 00:18:20.259 --> 00:18:21.980 come work a shift and see if he can handle it. 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:25.220 And to his credit, Cuban shows up. He spent a 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:27.900 day at a Dairy Queen in Copple, Texas, serving 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:30.140 ice cream to customers. What started as a fine 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:33.460 became this huge positive media story. It made 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.539 him look like this fun, down -to -earth billionaire. 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:38.230 But the fines got much bigger than that. He got 00:18:38.230 --> 00:18:40.289 hit with a quarter million dollar fine after 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:42.910 the 2006 finals for just repeated misconduct. 00:18:43.109 --> 00:18:45.589 And then the really big one in 2018, the one 00:18:45.589 --> 00:18:48.450 that cost him $600 ,000. That was for saying 00:18:48.450 --> 00:18:51.430 publicly that his team should tank for the rest 00:18:51.430 --> 00:18:53.730 of the season to get a better draft pick. You 00:18:53.730 --> 00:18:56.049 just can't say that out loud. The league saw 00:18:56.049 --> 00:18:58.069 it as an attack on the integrity of the game 00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:00.279 itself. But there's a key piece of information 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:02.400 about all these fines, something he does every 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:05.420 single time. Right. He publicly confirmed that 00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:08.660 he matches every dollar of his NBA fines with 00:19:08.660 --> 00:19:11.839 an equal donation to charity. So a $600 ,000 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:15.480 fine from the league becomes a $1 .2 million 00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:19.019 event with half going to charity. Exactly. He 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:21.220 completely flips the script. The league thinks 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:24.200 it's punishing him, but he turns it into a philanthropic 00:19:24.200 --> 00:19:26.730 platform. It's brilliant, really. And his sports 00:19:26.730 --> 00:19:30.210 ambitions weren't just basketball. He tried repeatedly 00:19:30.210 --> 00:19:32.829 to buy a Major League Baseball team. He really 00:19:32.829 --> 00:19:37.009 wanted in. In 2008, he put in a $1 .3 billion 00:19:37.009 --> 00:19:40.369 bid for the Chicago Cubs. Didn't get it. Then 00:19:40.369 --> 00:19:42.410 he went hard after his local team, the Texas 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:46.049 Rangers, in 2010 bid nearly $600 million. But 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:48.930 lost out to a group led by Nolan Ryan. And by 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:51.569 2012, when he tried to get to LA Dodgers, the 00:19:51.569 --> 00:19:54.279 market had just run away from him. The team ended 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:57.759 up selling for over $2 billion. He had his price, 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.420 and the market just blew past it. He also had 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:02.700 interest in the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:05.099 even had his own MMA promotion for a while called 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:08.079 HDNet Fights. He wanted to be in every corner 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.440 of the sports world. Which makes the end of his 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:13.019 time as the lead owner in Dallas so significant. 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:17.279 After 23 years, he cashes out. In December 2023, 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:21.400 the sale of 73 % of the Mavericks to Miriam Adelson 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:24.380 is approved. This was a massive liquidity event 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:26.680 for him. The estimates are that he personally 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:30.200 made around $3 .5 billion from the sale. And 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.319 crucially, he kept a minority stake, so he still 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:36.279 has a say in basketball operations. But this 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:39.200 move, cashing out $3 .5 billion, combined with 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.779 him leaving Shark Tank. It's a major signal. 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:44.519 A huge redirection of his capital and his personal 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:46.460 focus. He's moving on from entertainment, and 00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:48.160 that leads us right into his history with the 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.240 law and his political future. And you can't talk 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.119 about Cuban and the law without talking about 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.759 his war with the SEC, the Securities and Exchange 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:57.420 Commission. This fight, more than anything, I 00:20:57.420 --> 00:20:59.500 think, defined his anti -establishment identity. 00:20:59.859 --> 00:21:02.579 It all started with the civil suit the SEC filed 00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:05.680 against him in 2008. They accused him of insider 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.210 trading. Yeah, going all the way back to 2004 00:21:08.210 --> 00:21:12.329 with shares of a company called Mama .com. The 00:21:12.329 --> 00:21:14.690 SEC claimed he got confidential info that the 00:21:14.690 --> 00:21:17.190 company was about to issue new stock, which would 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:19.589 hurt the share price. And they alleged that he 00:21:19.589 --> 00:21:23.230 sold his entire stake, about $7 .9 million worth, 00:21:23.470 --> 00:21:25.869 right before that news became public, avoiding 00:21:25.869 --> 00:21:29.890 a loss of about $750 ,000. On its face, it looks 00:21:29.890 --> 00:21:32.569 like a standard case. But Cuban's defense was 00:21:32.569 --> 00:21:35.799 not standard at all. He went on the attack. His 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:38.279 whole argument was based on a technicality, right? 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.619 That he never actually agreed to keep the information 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:42.660 a secret. That was the legal core of it, yeah. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.400 He argued that without a formal agreement to 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:48.259 confidentiality, it wasn't illegal insider trading. 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:51.259 But his public defense was much broader. He took 00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.700 to his blog and just blasted the agency itself? 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:56.720 He did. He called the investigation a product 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:00.130 of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion. He 00:22:00.130 --> 00:22:02.210 basically framed it as the federal government 00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:04.630 bullying a high profile citizen, just to make 00:22:04.630 --> 00:22:06.670 an example of it. So after getting dismissed 00:22:06.670 --> 00:22:09.410 and then appealed, the case finally goes to a 00:22:09.410 --> 00:22:12.369 full jury trial in Texas. This is him, one guy, 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:14.549 against the full power of the U .S. government. 00:22:14.869 --> 00:22:18.309 And in 2013, the jury comes back. They deliberated 00:22:18.309 --> 00:22:20.730 for just over three hours, which is incredibly 00:22:20.730 --> 00:22:23.470 fast for a complex case like this. And they found 00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:26.500 in his favor. Completely. A total victory for 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:28.960 Cuban. He beat the SEC in court, which almost 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:31.799 never happens. And that victory gave him a huge 00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:34.359 platform to talk about what he saw as the problems 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:36.819 with Wall Street. Right. He goes on CNBC a year 00:22:36.819 --> 00:22:39.420 later and just unloads on high frequency trading, 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:42.880 HFT. He calls it equivalent to automated insider 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.829 trading. He argued that these firms use speed 00:22:45.829 --> 00:22:48.029 and access advantages that regular investors 00:22:48.029 --> 00:22:50.769 just don't have. It tied right back into his 00:22:50.769 --> 00:22:52.970 own fight over fairness in the markets. OK, so 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:54.950 that gives us insight into his view on regulation. 00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:57.190 What about his personal political philosophy? 00:22:57.390 --> 00:22:59.269 The sources say he leans libertarian. He's a 00:22:59.269 --> 00:23:02.609 big Ayn Rand fan. A huge fan, specifically of 00:23:02.609 --> 00:23:05.210 her book, The Fountainhead. He said it was incredibly 00:23:05.210 --> 00:23:08.490 motivating and that it encouraged him to think 00:23:08.490 --> 00:23:12.309 as an individual, take risks and responsibility. 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:15.710 It's that fierce, self -reliant mindset. But 00:23:15.710 --> 00:23:17.170 here's the contradiction, and I want to hear 00:23:17.170 --> 00:23:20.150 how you square this. How does the feels libertarian 00:23:20.150 --> 00:23:22.910 who fought the government also say that paying 00:23:22.910 --> 00:23:25.829 more in taxes is the most patriotic thing someone 00:23:25.829 --> 00:23:28.130 can do? It's a massive contradiction, right? 00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:31.410 And I think what it shows is that his libertarianism 00:23:31.410 --> 00:23:34.009 is more philosophical than it is dogmatic. It's 00:23:34.009 --> 00:23:36.470 about individual freedom and hating bureaucracy, 00:23:36.930 --> 00:23:40.990 but it's not a rigid anti -tax ideology. He seems 00:23:40.990 --> 00:23:43.619 to accept the idea of a... And his political 00:23:43.619 --> 00:23:45.900 donations have been all over the map. He's given 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:48.200 money to Republicans and Democrats. He's supported 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:50.940 independents. He's a pragmatist. And that pragmatism 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:53.559 was on full display in the 2024 election cycle. 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.259 He came out and endorsed Kamala Harris for president. 00:23:56.460 --> 00:23:58.420 And he used this really specific business language 00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:00.640 to do. He called her the only candidate in founder 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:02.680 mode. What does that even mean in a political 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:05.839 context? I think it means he sees her as someone. 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:08.619 who is actively trying to build and innovate, 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.420 not just manage an existing system. It's a huge 00:24:11.420 --> 00:24:13.700 compliment coming from a guy like him. And he 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:16.460 didn't just tweet an endorsement. He co -launched 00:24:16.460 --> 00:24:19.079 business leaders for Harris and started rallying 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.160 other CEOs to the cause. But the real bombshell, 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:24.500 the thing that connects his political ambitions 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:27.599 right back to his legal fights, was his stated 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:31.039 interest in running the SEC. The very same agency 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.539 that he spent years and millions of dollars fighting 00:24:33.539 --> 00:24:36.940 in court. The irony is just... It's off the charts. 00:24:37.160 --> 00:24:39.500 It's the ultimate fantasy of disruption from 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.500 within, isn't it? The guy who accused the agency 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:44.660 of abuse now wants to be the one in charge. It 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:46.680 suggests he believes the only way to fix broken 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:49.039 systems is to take them over himself. And these 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:51.299 ambitions are mirrored in his philanthropy, which 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:53.839 is often just as hands -on and direct as his 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.140 business style. A good example is the Fallen 00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:59.200 Patriot Fund he started back in 2003 for families 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:01.299 of soldiers killed or injured in the Iraq War. 00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:03.960 He personally matched the first million dollars 00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:06.700 in donations. And then there's that really powerful 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:10.440 story from 2020 about the former NBA player Delonte 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:13.140 West, who was struggling with homelessness and 00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:15.960 addiction. Cuban didn't just write a check. He 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:18.519 personally drove to a gas station in Dallas, 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:21.539 found Delonte West and picked him up. He paid 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:23.819 for his hotel, got him into a rehab facility. 00:25:24.019 --> 00:25:26.660 It was a direct. Personal intervention. Which 00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:28.440 is so consistent with everything else, right? 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:31.380 Sitting courtside, fighting the SEC in person, 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:33.319 picking up a former player from the street. He's 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:35.259 always in the middle of the action. It's that 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:38.089 fountainhead idea again. personal responsibility, 00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:41.130 and direct action. He doesn't delegate the things 00:25:41.130 --> 00:25:43.730 he really cares about. So when we synthesize 00:25:43.730 --> 00:25:46.190 all of this, this whole deep dive, it seems like 00:25:46.190 --> 00:25:48.430 Mark Cuban's career isn't just about making money. 00:25:48.509 --> 00:25:50.869 It's about gaining leverage. It's about calculated 00:25:50.869 --> 00:25:53.990 risks, incredible market timing, especially that 00:25:53.990 --> 00:25:56.990 broadcast .com hedge, and then using that fortune 00:25:56.990 --> 00:25:59.529 to challenge any system he thinks is broken. 00:25:59.890 --> 00:26:03.140 Here is the pattern. It's so consistent. He sees 00:26:03.140 --> 00:26:05.220 a system he thinks is inefficient or corrupt, 00:26:05.420 --> 00:26:09.319 whether it's NBA refs, dot -com valuations, PBMs, 00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:12.559 or the SEC, and he attacks it. He applies capital 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.400 and his platform to try and force a change. And 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:17.660 that pattern seems to be reaching a climax right 00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:20.160 now. He sells the Mavericks for $3 .5 billion. 00:26:20.220 --> 00:26:22.880 He's leaving Shark Tank. This is a deliberate 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.180 pivot. He's cashing out of his mature entertainment 00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:28.619 assets to free up his capital and his time for 00:26:28.619 --> 00:26:31.140 these bigger systemic fights. Yeah. He's moving 00:26:31.140 --> 00:26:34.819 from being an investor to being a policy disruptor. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:36.960 Which brings us to our final provocative thought 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:39.579 for you, the listener. Considering his focus 00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:42.160 on cost plus drugs, his deep involvement in politics, 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.299 his desire to run the SEC, is Mark Cuban's next 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:48.740 big venture even a company at all? Or is he preparing 00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:51.500 for an attempt to fundamentally restructure a 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:53.880 piece of the U .S. government itself? What's 00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:55.759 the next systemic flaw he's going to target? 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:58.180 Because his entire career shows he doesn't just 00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:00.119 want to play the game. He wants to rewrite the 00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:02.380 rules. That was the deep dive. We'll see you 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:02.720 next time.