Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban
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Institutional Affiliations

AbstractMark Cuban is a renowned billionaire and entrepreneur who rose from a humble beginning. He is famous for owning the Dallas Mavericks, a Basketball team playing in the NBA basketball league. Cuban is the kind that never grows out of ideas, and a man of the modern generation. He is also known for his realistic nature in expressing himself, always offering his opinions regardless of what the rest thinks. This has brought about the rivalry between him and other fellow billionaires. Cuban is married to Tiffany Stewart, and they both have three children, two girls, and a boy. He is known to be a family man and mainly for his belief in instilling self-discipline to his kids. Most of Mark Cuban’s fortune has been realized through the initiation and sale of companies. As a young man, Cuban was self-motivated and ambitious. His love for basketball was outstanding such that he went out to work for purposes of saving some money to buy basketball shoes. Apart from the business he has a good public relation and is a major character in the prominent show, Shark Tank. Cuban’s major investments are in sports, entertainment industry, and technology although he owns some other companies. However, his affluence does not prevent him from showing love and reaching out to the poor through donations. His love for basketball matches that for business in that he cannot miss a game for the NBA basketball and especially when his team is playing.

Bibliography
When we talk about success through hard work and motivation, we cannot afford to leave Mark Cuban out of the topic. Although he is currently a famous billionaire, his wealth is hard earned and a perfect example of what enthusiasm is all about. Born on 31st July in 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania he grew up from a business-minded family and hence developed the same from as early as 12 years when he did his first businesses. His family was that of an ordinary village set up where they resided among average neighborhood at Mount Lebanon. Like everyone else, he too schooled from a local school, the Mount Lebanon High School. His immediate family was Jewish but in the middle class. His parents were Norton Cuban and Shirley Feldman. His father worked as an automobile dealer while his mother was just a housewife. However, Cuban claims to have derived the inspiration behind his success from his mother. His other siblings are Brian and Jeff. Brian is the eldest brother, a lawyer and an activist whose interests are in the fields of a constitutional amendment, drug use (especially marijuana) and use of hate speech. Jeff, on the other hand, is the younger brother. Unlike Brian, he is opposed to politics and works as the executive vice president of the HDNet cable television (Noble, 2016). The family is undoubtfully business oriented and may have gotten the go-getter attitude from their grandfather who was also an entrepreneur.
The family name, Cuban, originated from an alteration made by Mark’s paternal grandfather from the cultural name, Chabenisky. This change was done after the family migrated from Russia to America through the Ellis Island. Cuban traces into the Jewish descent are quite impeccable since his maternal grandparents were Jews from Romania (Hand, 2016). The love for basketball is part of what prompted the billionaire’s zeal for business and trade. At the age of 12 years, he used to sell garbage bags with the aim of buying himself some expensive pair of basketball gears. This attitude pre-emptied into high school where he could sell any merchandise hence becoming a coin salesperson. By the time he hit the teenage, he had already established a business to deliver Pittsburgh Post- Gazette Newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh (Cuban, 2016).
Cuban is married to Tiffany Stewart, who was born on 1st January 1970 and their family is graced with three lovely babies; Alexis Sofia, the first daughter, born in 2005, Alyssa, born in 2007 and Jake, born in 2010. The couple first met at the gym, the most unexpected place to find a billionaire. This indicates that by then, Cuban was a sportsman. He still embraces exercising and works out to keep fit. They later wedded in Barbados in 2002, a ceremony that was attended by only 20 people. Cuban is a culturist given the form of the wedding he opted for. Although small, the ceremony was shadowed with a traditional pageantry. According to their wedding planner, he wanted it simple but elegant. This was a culmination of a five years dating. Stewart is 14 years younger than Mark Cuban. The family resides in Dallas, Texas where Cuban has elected a mansion. This is a region occupied by many other billionaires indicating that he too has a sense of class. However, unlike some other affluent parents who have little time for their children, Cuban is utterly concerned about the well-being and general discipline of their kids. For this reason, does that spoil them with lots of gift and money as expected. Rather, he trains them to adopt similar business minds and motivation so that they could depend on their businesses and be able to manage the property the family owns (Morrow, 2016). He believes that the best thing one can offer a child is knowledge and self-discipline. This way they grow to be responsible beings and will be able to depend on themselves in their adult life. However, public Cuban is, most of his family history remains highly private and confidential. His children are locked out of social sites regardless of him being a businessman in the same line.
Mark’s business mind could not allow him to continue with the high school for the senior years as was expected. Instead, he joined the University of Pittsburg as a full-time student to finalize the psychology classes he had started at the same institution in his junior year. However, he transferred to the Indiana University after the first year. This is where he mastered the essence of demand and supply. In a bid to get money to pay for his tuition and maintenance, he did menial jobs such as bartender, a party organizer, and as a dance instructor. He was also a member of Phi International Fraternity, a group that fought for equal treatment for anyone being admitted to the university. Previously, students were segregated by color and religion. He graduated with Bachelors in Business Administration from Kelly School of business. His choice of the graduate school was mostly influenced by the affordable tuition fee that was charged as it was the cheapest compared that charged in other top ten business schools.
After graduating, Cuban had no immediate place to be employed. Instead, he moved to Texas where he was then employed as a bartender. However, he did not stay here for long as he secured a job at the Mellon Bank. This came in as the company was switching from manual entries to using computers. It presented a ripe chance for Cuban to study machines and networking which became a point of interest for him immediately. What he did realize know was that he would be sacked a year later even before he had mastered the work. This did not kill his ambitions as later he landed a job for selling software. However, before mid-year in the first year of employment, he was fired for deserting his duty to open the store. This pushed him to start up his venture a company referred to as Micro Solutions where his first clients were the same people he worked within the Software business in Dallas. In the year 1990, Cuban stroke a deal with the CompuServe, then a branch of H & R Block, for $ 6 million. This earned him about $2 million after eliminating all accounting and tax charges. Five years later, Cuban met his like-minded friend, Todd Wagner, whom they used to school together with back in the Indiana University. They together started AudioNet that was an internet radio firm. This idea was derived from the notion that they both were used to listening to college basketball games online. However, it did not give them the satisfaction they wanted and hence wanted to spice that through their station. AudioNet was later named Broadcast.com. They succeeded in this business that grew to 330 employees and recorded a profit of about $13.5million during the second quarter of the year. However, they sold the firm to Yahoo the same year at $ 5.7 billion.
Cuban was continuously studying the market changes and opted to diversify his investments in various businesses. These included buying the NBA team who had recorded a series of poor performance due to adverse management issues. In 2011, the team won the title after having reached the finals in 2007. By 2012, Cuban was ranked at number 211 in the world’s richest people on Forbes. His net worth stood at $2.6 billion. He further holds the Guinness book record as the first person to have ever made the massive single electronic commerce transaction when he bought his Gulfstream V jet for $ 40 million October 1999. This was paid online. According to him, Private Jets are a necessity and not meant for luxury. Since then he owns a series of private jets such as the Gulfstream V, a Boeing 757 and a Boeing 767. The 757 is for his team, while the Dallas Mavericks and the 767 are rented out on a charter. In an interview conducted by Business Jet Traveler, he asserted that owning a private jet is not a luxury but another form of business. He asserted that it makes traveling easier for his family (Poli, 2016). Previously, he had used the jet to attend an early morning meeting when his team had a late night game which he attended. The second time was to get home for his daughters first dance after an overseas meeting. Essentially, the Jets help him reach destinations faster and hence can do more businesses than before. Further, by having the jet, he can accumulate more hours in a day that he can spend with his family and friends. And although this is a sign of an affluent and spendthrift lifestyle, Cuban acknowledges the importance of business and family especially having time with his children. This would contribute significantly to getting him ample time train and monitor their maneuvers.
Cuban and Wagner have strong business relationships. Apart from initiating the radio station they have jointly ventured into the entertainment business where they started the 2929 Entertainment media group. This was founded three years after selling the Broadcast.com. 2929 reproduced newer versions of the previously televised show, the ‘Star Search.’ In the same year, they bought the Landmark Theaters, and the largest film traders, the Mongolia Pictures. However, Cuban was not limited to doing business with Wagner, as in collaboration with Philip Garvin, he introduced the High Definition Television referred as AXS TV. This was the first high-definition TV network. Further, Cuban initiated the reality TV with the ABC in 2004 referred as ‘The Benefactor.’ However, it was lowly rated and went off the air shortly after it was initiated. This indicates some of the risks entrepreneurs take that at times could lead to massive losses if one had not diversified their investments (“The Benefactor @ Reality TV World,” 2016).
Apart from involvement in the media industry, he also immersed into the internet technology. His primary businesses were the distribution of networking solutions and social software. He founded the Ice Rocket search engine and later partnered in the starting of the RedSwoosh, an enterprise that allows the peers to share files and communicate to one another. The initiative involved visual aids but was sold to Akamai Technologies later in 2007. Apart from business, Cuban has a high sense of humor. He is sociable and an easy-goer who does not take things too personal. This is a trait that has helped him to do almost all forms of business. In 2005, he invested in a one of a kind high technology toilet seat referred to as the swash. When he was initiating the project, he joked about his power to venture into any business as far as it was beneficial. This was a startup project that was done by Brondell Inc. company. His ambition did not limit him to starting many other firms such as the San Diego software start-up named Goowy Media Inc. During the same year, he also financed a website that was created by Christopher Carey, a former St. Louis Post- Dispatch investigative reporter to expose fraud undertaken in Public traded companies and other misinformation by the companies. The website was known as Sharesleuth.com. He is also reported to have founded the analytic company named Motionlof. Despite pouring large sums of money in various investments, he proved that he had not only had the money but also the voice and drove when Sirius Satellite Radio in April 2006 announced that he would be a character in its weekly talk show referred to as the Mark Cuban’s Maverick. However, the latter has not yet been realized.
Richness is not only about the material wealth that an individual holds, but also about the level of knowledge that one has to do the business. It is said that ‘knowledge is power,’ and as Pablo Neruda, a renowned poet, states in one of his poems, one start dying slowly if they do not read. Cuban must have taken the two seriously owing to his ambitions and success. His endeavors were not limited to business as he also published his first book, Let’s Go, Mavs! in April 2007 in partnership with Mascot Books. This drove him to produce the second book in November 2011, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. The later was a motivational write up (McLaglen, 2016).
Despite being famous for owning the Dallas Mavericks, investing and financing various companies and projects, Mark Cuban is known for a reality TV Show, Shark Tank. The show is quite popular, whereby people with business ideas present them before the sharks in a bid get support for starting them up (Newswire, 2016). The Sharks are the facilitator. They analyze the viability of the business ideas submitted, and when they are satisfied with any of the ideas, they support the owner fully. Cuban has been a Shark’s investor on the said ABC reality program since the start of season 3 in 2012. He is however very strict and goal oriented when analyzing the ideas. In most cases, hi ambitions rest on technology related investments especially in the field of information technology. By January 2016, he had facilitated 82 deals across all the 109 Shark Tank episodes. This amounted to a total of $19.4 million. The first three contracts; the Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, BeatBox Beverages, and the Ten Thirty One Productions are all within the bracket of more than $1 million. The ratings of the popular show have changed since Cuban joined in 2012; Shark Tank has increased its ratings and won two prestigious Primetime Emmy Awards for an outstanding structured program. This was in the year 2014 and 2015. Through the Mongolia Pictures firm, he financed the film entitled Redacted, which was directed by Brian De Palma. One of the things that interested Cuban in light of Mongolia pictures was the distribution of the Loose Change film. Cuban put the two Landmark Pictures and Mongolia Pictures companies on sale, but on a condition that he had to get the price and commission in full. He would enter into a contract for shared benefits with the buyer for as long as they had agreed.
Cuban has an exceptional love for Basketball. This love was evident as early as he was twelve when he worked hard to purchase his first shoes. As a result, Cuban bought a majority of shares in NBA’s Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from Ross Perot on January 4, 2000. This made him the highest shareholder and latter came to own the club. The Dallas Mavericks is a well-known basketball team in the USA. It is the 9th most valuable team in the NBA, currently standing at a value of 1.4 billion US dollars. Another reason for its fame is the esteemed association with Mark Cuban, as the owner and facilitator. However, Dallas Mavericks group is not only committed to the continuous investments in technology but also they have notably engaged in other leadership development practices such as the Disney Institute whose primary duty is maintaining a high level of quality and involvement with their fan experience (“Forbes Welcome,” 2016). Cuban finds love in the players and the fans. Essentially, the fans are part of his motivation as he works closely with them to ensure they are satisfied and that their likings are put into consideration. This is a similar enthusiasm as he puts in other businesses.
Despite being the owner of a club and a supporter of basketball, Cuban has at times found himself on the wrong side of the law. The NBA management has penalized him on a number of instances primarily for insulting the referees and the league officials in general. It is reported that for thirteen incidents of this nature he has been forced to part away with about $ 1.665 million as payment for the fines. Cuban, however, has never appeared to be bothered by the fines. To him, these were little charges that he immediately paid they were impacted. In press discussion with the Associated Press, he likened the NBA fines to the money he used in charitable donation. Cuban has made some a record of negative behavior during his basketball moments mainly in the 2005-2006 season. Then he introduced a booing binge when a player formerly belonging to Mavericks revisited to play against his old team with the San Antonio Spurs team. He was recorded cursing Bowen, the Spurs’ team forward, during a match his team and the Spurs. This saw him fined a total of $ 25,000 by the management for stepping into the court and directing hauling insults to the officials. By the end of the 2006 season, Cuban was fined a total of $250,000 million for gross misconduct when Mavericks’ lost to the Miami Heat team in the fifth game of the 2006 Finals (News, 2016). Further in February 2007, he condemned officials for allowing fraud in the 2006 finals and in the defense stated that he was ready to be fined but was willing to make his opinion public regarding transpired in those games. In the year 2009, on 16th January, Mark Cuban yelled at a Denver Nuggets team player, Smith, at the closure of the first half and was fined a total of $25,000. He could also not be spared for $ 100,000 for comments that he uttered on May 22, 2010, while in an interview. He was then trying to sign up a player, LeBron James, to spice up his club. These were not the only fines that the billionaire has met. His enthusiasm and vigor were evident when he confronted the referees using a rather vulgar language. This made him again be fined an amount of $100,000 for the misconduct. However, he was never remorseful, and steadily he asserted that he was going to offer an equivalent amount to charity donation as the penalties he was forced to pay. This indicates the level of affluence he has besides the devotion to make his team stronger and ambition to speak out his mind when cornered.
Apart from basketball, Cuban had also expressed interest in investing in other sports and games and even actually participating as was witnessed in WWE Raw wrestling in 2003 when he was invited to act as the guest referee in a match between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston. He ended up being smashed on the table by Sheamus, the principal contender for the Heavyweight Championship. This is an indication that he is at least arrogant in his doings. Confronting a heavyweight champion means that Cuban fears nothing and would disregards someone’s status as long as he is pursuing what he believes to be correct. It is reported that he had loaned the UFL league a total of $5 million, which they never paid. As a result, Cuban sued them for failing to repay the loan on time that was due on 6th October 2016. He has been curious about being owning of the Baseball Major League license but has not succeeded to date. This would only happen if he purchased the three primary clubs licenses namely the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mark Cuban is not only motivated by his passion for business and sports. He claims that the Andy Rands’ novel is a primary source of inspiration for him and has been of the opinion that many others should try to read it and find motivation. According to him, it encourages one to be a risk taker for them to achieve certain goals. It is the one that made him responsible for his failures and his successes. He also has some political ambitions and has not shied to condemn the government when it has failed. His political views are pegged on the notion and believe that the state should be minimally involved in the life its citizens. He has held for a long time secured a position in the centrist Unity 08 political organization advisory councils. Once he posted on his blog that the most patriotic thing that a person could do is pay more taxes. This was considered as a libertarian move by the billionaire. He is reported to have supported Senator Orrin, a Republican, with $ 6,000 to pursue his political ambitions. Although Cuban voted for Obama in the 2008 election, he recorded in his blog that was in support of the then New York City Mayor, Bloomberg, to run for the presidency. He held the belief that it would have cost less for the mayor to change the existing situation than it would have cost to start an opposite move. When the mayor declined, he endorsed Hillary Clinton for a seat while in a political rally in Pittsburgh. Nonetheless, he is not a supporter of any politician whose ambitions are not congruent to the general welfare of the larger American community. This is the reason he is opposed to Trump. Instead, he terms him as verbiage. It is unfortunate that Trump won the 2016 election and is bound to be the next president.
Many billionaires live in the upper level of social life. In most cases, they cannot mingle with the ordinary citizen. This is a different case for Cuban who considers all people as clients and part of his success. Despite his unbecoming behavior, and in particular with the NBA and the multiple lawsuits in his name, Mark Cuban is a wealthy man with a kind heart. He upholds dignity for everyone and believes that justice and fairness should prevail in all aspects of life. He is the founder of the Fallen Patriot Fund, an initiative that assists families whose members were killed or injured serving as U.S military personnel during the war in Iraq. He also extends to charity programs where he contributed $5 million to the Indiana University for the election of a center for sports, media, and technology. This was designated be constructed inside the Assembly Hall, which happens to be the school’s basketball arena (“Mark Cuban in Indiana University Alumni Association,” 2016).
Some of the philosophies of the billionaire’s success are based on relations. Despite being business oriented and money minded, he explains that one should be creative and always cultivate good relationships with other people. He strives to nature and encourages relations within the Dallas Mavericks team to bring about a lot more motivation in the team rather than that brought by money. Mark Cuban believes that the most efficient way to better the American economy is to ensure that the owners and managers of the big companies create opportunities for every class of persons in the society. He encourages them not to be soo much money-minded. Rather they should embrace the virtue unity by creating opportunities for the workers, shareholders and other interested parties. In so doing their value of money would be realized in a much better way since the people involved in the investment will invest back in the businesses or start other initiatives. Cuban claims that “it is so much easier to be nice, to be respectful, to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and try to understand how you might help them before they ask for help than it is to try to mend a broken customer relationship” (“ImpactQuotes”, 2016).
Cuban’s leadership style is quite different from what many of us would expect from a billionaire. He has a high respect for people in the higher levels. For this reason, he has been ultimately responsible for both his success and shortcomings. One quality that no one can refute is the fact that Cuban understands what motivates fans, players, workers and people with business ideas. He finds joy in naturing creativity, innovativeness and gives an insight into every aspect of his work. He asserts that he has always been a consumer of sporting events where he started going to baseball games when I was five years old. Here the usage of the word ‘consumer’ was intentionally meant to indicate his dependency on the support from other people and the pursuit of one’s love. It is evident that Cuban is a man full of intelligent and a go-getter who does not rest lower that what he aimed for. He has worked his way to the top and is willing to support others reveal their dreams but only if they have clear objectives. He claims that “being rich is a good thing not just in the obvious sense of benefitting you and your family, but in the broader sense” (“ImpactQuotes”, 2016). To him, profits are not a zero-sum game, and the more one makes, the more of the financial impact they hold. His motivation message to the other entrepreneurs and investors is that one must be unique if they are to succeed. Instead of trying out what everyone else is doing, one should strive to be original in their ventures and ideas.

References
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