I am not a computer geek. I know that I appear resistant to change. I am however, aware of things going on around me and every now and then, someone or something tweeks my interest.
Mark Cuban is a self-made billionarire. At last tabulation, he was worth $1.8 billion and the 164th richest American. He dresses sloppy. He loves sports. He appears to be a non-conformist but I suspect he is steeped in traditional values.
Mark and a buddy started Broadcast.com which is an online computer gateway to broadcasts of college and professional athletic events around the world. So here is a man in his 30's developing software systems that bring him things he loves, namely sports. Did I mention he owned a sports pub while going to college? At the height of the frenzy for computer software and equipment in the late 90's, Mark sold Broadcast.com to a little company called Yahoo. He suddenly had $1.9 billion in cash and he was still in his 30's. What guy wouldn't like to be in Cuban's situation.
So what does he do with all the money at a young age? Most of it is in cash. He draws interest on the cash but he isn't stupid. He is not going to risk being poor again.
Then he buys things that make him comfortable. He owns a 24,000 square foot mansion in Dallas. He flies a $41 million dollar Gulfstream jet that takes him where ever he wants to go. He drives a yellow Hummer, a 2001 Explorer and has 2-3 Lexus cars are trucks.
Oh yeah, for business entertainment he bought the Dallas Maverick basketball team. He spoils all his NBA players by providing exquisite locker room amenities including individual TV's by every locker and high-tech sound systems so that players can relax before all games. He screams at the referees and generally shakes up the whole NBA establishment. In other words, he has some fun with the billions. He claims he is losing money with the Mavericks but I would seriously doubt that. He paid $280 million for the the Mavericks and it is probably worth double that amount. I guess it depends on how you define, "losing money".
He did marry in recent years. It is the only move he made to taint my image of him as a role model. Just Kidding! Ha-ha-ha.
If you ask Mark if he was lucky he will respond by saying "hell yes".
I do want to share his business philosophy because he is rather candid and blunt. The measure of business success is getting rich. If you are rich, you are successful. His goal was to put competition out of business. Money is the ultimate scorecard. If you are in an industry and you are getting the money and your competitors are not, you win! Marks role model was Andrew Carnegie who believed "it is patriotic to get rich". There is a distinct lack of mention of human compassion in any of Mark's philosophy.
Now we come back to reality. Money does not buy happiness but it is fun to live vicariously by watching a pub owning entrepreneur bounce through life.
So Grasshoppers, there is always hope. You too might just get lucky. I suspect that each of you may be richer in some ways than Mark Cuban. You do not need billions to be happy.
I guess I'm just jealous. I always wanted to be able to sit on my ass and do nothing but spend money and have fun.
It is the American dream.
Love,
Dad
Mark writes a blog, very, very interesting. go to www.blogmaverick.com and check it out. has some great business theories....and just plain fun.