Entertainment
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban announces exit from “Shark Tank”
By Jake Beardslee · November 28, 2023
In brief…
- Mark Cuban is leaving ABC's "Shark Tank" after 15 seasons and 16 years on the show.
- Cuban has invested in hundreds of small businesses pitched on the show.
- While down slightly on cash investments, the ongoing value of his portfolio of "Shark Tank" businesses remains high.
During a recent appearance on the podcast “All the Smoke,” Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, revealed that next season will be his last on the hit entrepreneurial show “Shark Tank.” “This is our 15th year. Next year, 16th year, is going to be my last year,” Cuban stated in an interview on the Showtime basketball podcast “All The Smoke.”
When asked by host and former NBA player Stephen Jackson if he was “hanging up the shoes” in reference to retiring like an athlete might, Cuban simply responded, “It’s time.” The show, which features successful investors or “sharks” hearing business pitches from entrepreneurs and deciding whether to invest, has been credited by Cuban as showing “the American dream is alive and well.”
Cuban expressed his belief that through his 15 seasons on the show, “we’ve trained a generation of entrepreneurs, multiple generations of entrepreneurs that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento or wherever, and show up on the carpet of ‘Shark Tank’ and show their business and get a deal, it’s going to inspire generations of kids.” He relayed how moved he is when entrepreneurs now come on the show saying “I watched you when I was 10 years old.”
While the billionaire businessman did not elaborate in the interview on precisely why he feels it’s time to leave the show, he revealed that his overall investment record on businesses pitched on “Shark Tank” has been positive. “I’m down a little bit on a cash basis,” he stated, “but on a mark to market, meaning the companies are still in operation, I’m way up.” Over his 15 seasons on the air, Cuban has invested in hundreds of small businesses through deals negotiated with eager entrepreneurs on the show.