Invested in You: Mark Cuban gives exclusive look into personal life and career
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about his personal life, career and business advice.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is known for so many things, including screaming at NBA referees and asking hard-hitting questions on "Shark Tank," but FOX Business' Susan Li got to turn the tables on Cuban this week when she did a behind-the-scenes interview with the well-known billionaire businessman.
The wide-ranging interview included topics like how he picks the businesses he invests in and why he makes his kids do their own dishes.
How he decides where to invest
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about what the next big thing in tech will be.
Cuban says he tries to ask "what's next" in the technology world before throwing his money behind a project. He also looks at how the tech would affect the world, which is why he's deep-diving into artificial intelligence.
"I just try to see what I think really will be next, and then try to go all in and learn about it, and then learn how companies, learn how into how those new technologies, will impact companies and individuals, try to learn that stuff," Cuban told Li.
He's looking for companies that are hoping to use A.I. to "change the business world."
Who he respects the most
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about who he respects the most in his life.
Cuban comes from a hard-working family. His father was an automotive upholstery repairman.
"He went to work every day ... never made more than $40,000 a year in his life, and just did everything for myself and my brothers, and that's who we are in this country," Cuban said. "And if you grind it out, if you ... go to work to put your kids in a better position, that's what I respect."
Cuban admits that's what inspired him to become an entrepreneur, which is another line of work he has the utmost respect.
"I respect every entrepreneur who puts their life on the line," Cuban said. "I respect everybody who goes to work and grinds it out."
Why he bought the Mavericks
Cuban said there was one reason he bought the NBA team: "I love basketball."
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about what it was that inspired him to buy the team.
He had been a Mavericks fan and once he sold Yahoo Broadcast, he seized the moment many fans dream of.
"It was just like: OK, you know this is probably a unique opportunity — something I wanted to do that I love," Cuban said.
He is in awe over professional sports has the ability to inspire an entire state.
"When Amazon has a great quarter, Google, Apple has a great quarter, no one throws a parade," Cuban said. "When the Mavs won a championship in 2011 — you know, any team now that wins a championship — there's a huge parade," he said. "The city goes nuts. Everybody is fired up."
What drives him the most
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about when money stopped mattering to him.
Cuban said he was always driven by time, which was a notion instilled by his father.
"For men, money was always a means to an end," Cuban said. "I did get to the point where I didn't have to worry about money but I never got to the point where I didn't respect it."
He emphasized respecting money is crucial to achieving success, which is something he tries to pass on to his children.
"I don't want my kids to turn into entitled jerks," Cuban said. "You know if there's garbage on the floor, I want them to pick it up because it's the right thing to do."
When he knew he had made it
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Mark Cuban about when he remembers thinking: 'I've made it.'
"I'm still waiting for that to come," Cuban said.
He admitted the day he became a billionaire, however, was pretty close.
"I still don't think I've done my best work yet," Cuban said. "I still think there's a lot more to accomplish."
He said now his kids are his "greatest hope" and being a parent is immensely important to him.
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How he keeps his kids humble
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about how he tries to keep his kids humble by making them do the dishes and working for their money.
Cuban, beaming, bragged about his children and their hard-working mentalities.
He also explained how he and his son do "math for money."
"He's all into Minecraft, and so he wants to get these mods and everything, he's got to do something to earn it, and he knows exactly what it costs and how he has to pay me back," Cuban said.
He said they try to live life as normally as possible.
He really taught disco?
FOX Business' Susan Li spoke to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban about his entrepreneurial spirit while he was in college.
Cuban's entrepreneurial mind thrived in college, he said, especially when he got an opportunity to teach disco to sorority girls.
"I just could dance, and so I got asked by some people ... to come and teach," Cuban said. "I mean not only did I give disco lessons when I was a college [but] before I was 21, a friend and I opened up a bar."
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Cuban admitted, however, that the bar eventually closed due to underage drinking, but he said he learned a lot from that failure.