Don't be surprised if Mark Cuban runs for president
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- Mark Cuban is departing "Shark Tank" and selling his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks.
- He's been outspoken about his interest in politics for years and almost ran for president in 2020.
- He denied on Wednesday that he's running for president, but what else could he possibly be doing?
On Tuesday, longtime Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban shocked the sports world after reportedly selling a "majority stake" of the team to Miriam Adelson, wife of the late casino magnate, Sheldon Adelson, for approximately $3.5 billion.
The transaction was reported just one day after Cuban confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he's leaving ABC's hit reality television show, "Shark Tank," after the upcoming 16th season.
Frankly, Cuban's recent moves are perplexing — being the owner of the basketball team and later becoming one of the faces of "Shark Tank" are pretty much the two sole things that's turned him into a household name.
Prior to purchasing the Mavericks at the turn of the 21st century from the son of failed presidential candidate Ross Perot, Cuban was realistically much more known for becoming a billionaire after selling "Broadcast.com" to Yahoo for more than $5 billion worth of company shares just before the dot-com bubble burst in what Fortune magazine previously called one of the "5 worst Internet acquisitions of all time."
About ten months later, he set a world record in 1999 that's still held today for the "Largest single e-commerce transaction" after he bought a Gulfstream jet for $40 million online.
So what does he need $3 billion or more for?
He doesn't need another private jet. He owns two already.
He doesn't need another house. He already owns three.
Maybe a yacht? He's sworn off buying one of those.
Cars? He owns several.
Another business opportunity? He started a discount online pharmacy in 2022 that's already partnered with Kroger and other pharmacies.
Screw it, what about a town? Check out Mustang, Texas.
Alright, what's even left out there for him to spend such an exorbitant amount of money on?
Other than philanthropy, which doesn't necessitate spending billions of dollars to make a sizable impact, remains one distinct possibility: Cuban very well may be preparing an upcoming run for president — and it probably won't be as a fallback option for Democrats to replace President Joe Biden, who's falling in national polls.
Instead, it seems far more likely Cuban would run as a Republican or independent.
In 2015, for example, he announced on a now-defunct social media app that he "would prefer to be a Republican" but struggled with the direction of the party. Still, he said at the time, "I don't want to be a democrat."
Though he formerly had a friendly rapport with Trump prior to winning the 2016 election, he's since become an outspoken critic of the former president's leadership, so it's unclear if he still identifies as a Republican.
Cuban's online voter registration data that's linked to his Dallas-area home doesn't publicly show if he's registered to any specific political party, just that he's an active voter.
Texas Secretary of State
Politics would certainly be a new venture for Cuban to seriously enter, but it is a topic he's shown over the past few decades that he at least has had a passing interest in being a national political leader.
In 2015, he suggested he might want to become speaker of the House (replacing former Rep. John Boehner) and even hinted at becoming a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump's 2016 presidential runs.
Later, Cuban revealed in a CNN interview that he seriously considered running for president in the 2020 race. He said the only reason he didn't is because his "family voted it down."
"Otherwise, I would have," Cuban said, noting he captured support from 77% of independent votes in a private poll he commissioned but was never able to amass more than 25% support from the greater electorate as a whole.
Despite denying Wednesday morning that he has any plans to run in the upcoming election, his prior statements and actions all point to him joining the fray.
America's already elected one billionaire reality television star to lead the nation.
Is it ready for another?