Mark Cuban is reportedly moving on from his team ownership position in the NBA.
Cuban, 65, is selling the majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson, the widow of late Las Vegas Sands CEO, sources told The Athletic and Stadium’s NBA insider Shams Charani on Tuesday, November 28.
According to the report, Cuban is selling his share “for valuation in [the] range of $3.5 billion.” However, this doesn’t mean Cuban is fully out. The deal will reportedly allow him to keep “shares in [the] team and full control of basketball operations.”
Cuban purchased his majority stake in the Mavericks in January 2000 for $285 million from Texas businessman and real estate developer H. Ross Perot Jr.
“I was like, ‘F—k this, our team sucks. I’ve got all this money and what could be better?’” Cuban recalled of making the purchase during an October appearance on Barstool Sports’ “KFC Radio” podcast. “I play basketball every day anyways, but now I get to play basketball with NBA players.”
Reports of Cuban’s step back from the Mavericks come days after it was announced that he would be leaving ABC’s Shark Tank following the show’s forthcoming 16th season.
“This is our 15th year, and next year, our 16th year, is gonna be my last year,” he revealed during an appearance on the “All the Smoke” Showtime basketball podcast earlier this month. “So, I got one more year to go.”
Cuban explained that “it’s time” for him to move on from the boardroom. He joined the show as a guest star during Shark Tank season 2, which aired in 2011. He was upped to a full-time panelist for season 3 and has held the position ever since.
The current panel of Shark Tank investors includes Cuban along with Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner. Together, they watch pitches from up-and-coming entrepreneurs and decide whether to invest in the various companies.
Initially, Cuban decided to join the show because he felt the Sharks “sucked,” he told Us Weekly exclusively earlier this year.
“I could come on and do a much better job,” he recalled thinking. “And so, when they had me come on first as the guest shark … I got there and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m just going to tear them up. I’m just going to raise hell.’ And then I’ve been there ever since.”
One of his most famous investments was with Beatbox, which is a staple on some college campuses.
“So Beatbox beverages is kind of a wine cooler and now a spritzer as well. And [the founders] came on just a bunch of partying guys and one girl out of Austin. And I’m like, ‘OK, it’ll be fun,’” he told Us of the product. “I gave them a million dollars for a third of the company and now they’re worth over $200 million.”
