Business Leaders

Although Mark Cuban may be known as the candid owner of the Dallas Mavericks, he is also a billionaire Internet entrepreneur, and the chairman of the high-definition television station, HDNet.

Before Cuban became the billionaire he is today, he was always looking for ways to make money. Even as a child, having grown up in a working class family, Cuban always had an entrepreneurial drive. At the age of twelve, Cuban was known for selling garbage bags in order to pay for an expensive pair of shoes. While attending school, he held various jobs; he was known to have worked as a bartender, a disco dancing teacher, and a party promoter. In addition, he also collected and sold stamps to aid him with college funds. It was evident that Cuban has always known how to make money.

In 1981,Cuban graduated with a business degree from the Indiana University. He eventually moved to Dallas and worked as a salesperson for a PC software retailer, Your Business Software. However, Cuban was later fired from the job in less than a year after “failing” to open the store on time while he was making a sales call that was finalizing a large software purchase with a customer. But Cuban was quite finished yet with the computer industry.

After Your Business Software, Cuban then started a computer consulting company known as MicroSolutions. With MicroSolutions, Cuban became a millionaire. He eventually sold the company to Compuserve for $6 million in 1990.

In 1995, Cuban’s next business endeavor was with the Internet broadcasting company Broadcast.com. Him and his college friend Todd Wagner combined their interest in college basketball and webcasting and led Broadcast.com to set a one-day record for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) by increasing nearly 250%, making $18 per share to $62.75 per share. Eventually Cuban sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! in 1999 for nearly $5 billion worth of stock. The move instantly made Mark Cuban and his friend Todd Wagner billionaires.

After the “dot com boom,” Cuban then pursued business closer to his passion: basketball. He bought the NBA basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks from Ross Perot, Jr. for $285 million in 2000. In the 20 years before Cuban owned the team, the Mavericks had a 40% winning percentage, and a playoff record of 21-32. The team never advanced past early playoff rounds. However, once Cuban took over, in the six years following, the team has won 69% of their regular season games and made it to the playoffs every season.

To this day, Cuban continues to be an active investor and supporter of the Internet, media, and technology industry. He is also the chairman and owner of the high definition television channel HDNet. To find out more from the man himself, anyone can visit his own blog at BlogMaverick.com, where topics such as basketball, technology, business, and the Internet are recurring topics that are discussed.