Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban was born July 31, 1958 to working class parents in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. At age 12, Mark Cuban debuted in the business world by selling garbage bags to his neighbors. He sold 100 bags for $6.00 and soon bought a pair of expensive basket ball shoes he had wanted. Cuban’s thriftiness and business sense led him to attend college at Indiana University. He chose Indiana because it was the least expensive top 10 business school in the States.
College posed no challenge for Mark Cuban. He entered the business school and proceeded to take graduate level classes his freshman year. His advisor discouraged him from taking the higher level classes and ultimately dissuaded him from continuing his studies in Indiana’s MBA program when he graduated.
With college behind him, Mark Cuban set his sights on the emerging technology industry. In 1983, he founded MicroSolutions, a computer consulting company. Cuban had little background in technology, but succeeded in making the company profitable. In 1990, he sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe for $6 million.
Cuban moved to Dallas to begin his next business venture. Basketball served as a driving force in Cuban’s younger years and continued to influence his business years. As a result, he founded Broadcast.com in 1995 with his partner, Todd Wagner. Broadband allowed for all of Indiana’s basketball games to be broadcasted in real time over the internet. Cuban could now watch every Hoosiers game on his computer. Live steaming video helped Broadcast.com explode, and in 1999, the company went public with great success. Cuban later sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion.
Cuban retired after his Yahoo! deal, but he did not slow down. He stays true to his basketball roots with the purchase of the Dallas Mavericks. Along with support of the Mavericks, Cuban continues to develop other companies that revolve around the technology industry. In 2002 he founded HDNet, a high definition television network, and 2929, an entertainment company.
Cuban continues to work with former Broadcast.com partner Todd Wagner. Through their 2929 firm, they purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of art house movie theaters, and updated the TV show Star Search. Cuban continues to expand into new markets and industries while remaining true to his first loves, basketball and technology.