The NBA team owner known for arguing with refs on the basketball court during Dallas Mavericks games had a normal middle-class childhood. He was born in 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Morris Chobanisky, emigrated from Russia and supported his family by selling random merchandise out of the back of his truck. Without a doubt, that incredible work ethic was passed down to Cuban. At the young age of 12, Cuban sold sets of garbage bags to save up for a pair of shoes he wanted. In high school, he hustled to make extra money by becoming a stamp and coin salesman. After attending the University of Pittsburgh for his freshman year, Cuban transferred to Indiana University. He was paying his own tuition during this time, which meant he had to work several odd jobs to keep the money flowing. He started giving dance lessons, and then eventually began hosting funky disco parties at the Bloomington National Guard Armory. After graduating in 1981, Cuban moved back to Pittsburgh and got a job with Mellon Bank. The company had just switched over to computers, so Cuban began to study the machines. One year later, he left Pittsburgh and moved to Dallas. He began selling software and then formed his own consulting business, MicroSolutions. He became an expert in the field of computers and computer networking. Six years after moving to Dallas, Cuban sold his first company for six million dollars. In 1995, he started a new company called AudioNet with his business partner Todd Wagner. It was eventually renamed Broadcast.com. One year after going public in 1998, Cuban and Wagner sold out to Yahoo! for nearly six billion dollars. He surpassed Beyonce, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Donald Trump and even Bill Gates. After conquering the business world, Cuban decided to enter the sports arena. In 2000, he purchased the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million. It was a bold move considering the Mavericks had some issues on and off the court. Cuban managed to turn the franchise around. In 2011, the Mavericks won the NBA title after making the playoffs for several consecutive years. According to the most recent report, Mark Cuban’s net worth stands at $4.1 billion. He’s truly a self-made billionaire. By the way, the Mavericks are now worth over $2 billion. So yeah, the $285 million he paid for them 19 years ago has worked out well.
