These days, billionaire Mark Cuban resides in a 24,000-square-foot mansion located in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Dallas.
But that wasn’t always the case.
The former “Shark Tank” host recalled living in a “shithole” Dallas apartment with five other guys in the 1980s during a conversation on The San Francisco Standard’s “Life in Seven Songs” podcast this week.
“I slept on the floor. If someone was out of town, I got a bed,” Cuban said in the Tuesday episode, recounting his time in the “nasty” apartment. “I didn’t have my own closet, didn’t have my own drawers, nothing.”
Cuban was fresh out of college at Indiana University when a friend convinced him to move to Dallas in 1982, promising great weather and scores of beautiful women, he said.
“The women are beautiful? Here I come. I’m 24 years old,” Cuban said, recalling that time in his life.
Cuban’s post-college stint in Dallas was initially meant to be a quick stopover, but after a couple of months, he got a job selling software in the city.
His time at that job, however, was short-lived. Cuban said he had the chance to make a $15,000 sale, which would have yielded him a $1,500 commission check. But his boss fired him instead, Cuban told The Standard.
The setback was ultimately a positive, Cuban said. He started a company called MicroSolutions in 1983. Less than 10 years later, the company had grown to more than $30 million in revenue.
In 1990, Cuban sold the company for $6 million, officially becoming a millionaire.
After selling, Cuban said he “made a lot of money” and bought a lifetime pass on American Airlines to travel and party.
“I was young, single, and crazy, and there were no limits,” Cuban told the outlet. “I just wanted to have a beer with as many people as I possibly could, experience as many things as I possibly could.”
Cuban famously went on to appear on “Shark Tank” as an investor. The entrepreneur announced last year that he would leave the show after filming for this season wraps next year.
The Dallas resident also bought the Mavericks for $285 million in 2000, but he sold his majority stake in the franchise earlier this year for a valuation in the range of $3.5 billion. Cuban maintains a 27% stake in the team.
More recently, Cuban has been stumping for Vice President Kamala Harris, offering to serve in her potential administration and criticizing former President Donald Trump, though he says he doesn’t hate the Republican nominee.
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