As winter closes in on his business empire, Mark Cuban still holds a sharp stick in his hand, searching for an unsuspecting eye to poke.
“When I got into the NBA, half the fun was messing with the NBA,” Cuban said recently. “Fines and everything. Everybody was doing it and I was like, no, no, no, that's not fun. I bought this to have fun, and if you don't like it, pay the fine. And it worked out.”
“It's the same with pharmaceuticals and healthcare. What more can we do? Hopefully, we win a championship in 2011, hopefully, we win a championship in 2024. That's good. But have we screwed up pharmaceuticals? Have we changed healthcare? Who's that guy? It's the real deal. It's a big checkbox.”
Cuban, who sold the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families, who own the Las Vegas Sands Casino Company, late last year, remains a staunch supporter of the Mavericks, whose assets are valued at around $1 billion.
But he's 65, he's got three kids with his wife, and… life. Going head-to-head with the NBA over officiating and marketing is no longer a top priority. Over time, some things become more important and others less important.
When the Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves to win the Western Conference title, Cuban was conspicuously absent from the centerpiece of the trophy ceremony.
“They definitely looked over there and (television host) Ernie Johnson looked at me and said, 'All right, come on up,'” Cuban said last week in Boston. The Mavericks lost the first two games of the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics before losing again on Wednesday at Dallas.
“And I thought this was Patrick (Dumont)'s moment,” Cuban said. “I don't care about any of that crap, but who gave the trophy to when we won (in 2011)? (Former Mavs owner) Donald Carter. This was Dumont's first time. I was there. I didn't have to. I was standing right behind him. I enjoyed every moment of it. I have kids. I didn't have to be a part of it. I've done it. I'd like to do it again.”
(Keep in mind this was before Game 2, when the Mavericks' championship dreams were dashed at 3-0 and Dallas needed to beat Boston on Friday at the American Airlines Center to avoid elimination.)
Cuban has recently been devoting just as much time to his two-year-old direct-to-consumer business, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Co., with a simple goal: drastically reduce the cost of prescription drugs.Easy job for a “Shark Tank” star, right?
Take on an industry that, according to Statista, generated $364 billion in revenue in the U.S. in 2022. Take on an industry that is literally called Big Pharma because of a maze of seemingly intricate regulations and hidden costs that the U.S. federal government has tried to rein in for decades with little success.
“It's the most disruptive industry I've ever been involved in,” Cuban said.
Keep reading.
Going further
Now that he's out of the Mavericks spotlight, Mark Cuban is looking to 'destroy' the pharmacy industry
