Mark Cuban is one of the most successful businessmen known to date. Cuban was born on July 31, 1958, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From the young age of 12 years old, Cuban was always trying to make money; he sold sets of garbage bags to save up for a pair of shoes he liked. In high school, he earned extra dollars any way he could, mainly by becoming a stamp and coin salesman.
Cuban was also advanced in school and by his junior year of high school, he was taking psychology classes at the University of Pittsburgh. Cuban attended the University of Pittsburgh for only one year and then later transferred to Indiana University, where he got his Bachelor of Science degree in management in 1981. After his time in college, Cuban went on to sell software and formed his own consulting business, MicroSolutions. In 1990, Cuban sold his company for $6 million to another software firm called CompuServe.
As a resident of Dallas, Cuban loved sports and always had dreams of owning a professional team. In 2000, his dream came true when he purchased the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from the previous owner Ross Perot. When Cuban bought the Mavericks, they were a less than desirable team for a new owner because of the current players and coaching staff they had at the time.
Cuban revamped the Mavericks with a new stadium and made trades that would help the team in the long term. As a long- time fan of the Mavericks, it was a dream come true when the Mavericks finally won the NBA Finals in 2011 against the Miami Heat. Cuban brought innovation to the Mavericks when he launched the very first blog by an NBA team owner. Mark Cuban was unlike any other owner of an NBA team; he would sit in the stands with the fan, egged on opponents, and derided refs. The Mavericks responded positively to the new owner's zeal.
Cuban has run into some controversy over the years because of his unfiltered opinions of the NBA and certain players in the league. In 2003, he made waves in the NBA community when he referred to Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case saying, “ It's reality television, people love train-wreck television, and you hate to admit it, but that is the truth, that's the reality today."
But as of this year, Cuban has decided to sell his majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks. The majority stake will be sold to the family of Miriam Adelson. Even though Cuban is selling a majority of his stake in the Mavericks, he is still keeping a small amount and plans to stay involved with the team. Cuban is also taking a step back from the hit television show Shark Tank saying this will be his last season that he is on the show. Cuban has changed the way owners see professional sports teams in all leagues, and he has paved the way for owners to be more involved with the development of the players and how the staff of the team operates.
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