Mark Cuban concluded his 15-year run on ABC’s (DIS) Shark Tank, joining the storied show in season three, which debuted in 2012. The show features entrepreneurs and their ideas as they try to shepherd their products or ventures to market.
In the days since Cuban debuted on Shark Tank, his investments in the show have increased almost eight-fold.
Cuban, though, made his final appearance on Friday and told CNBC that he invested about $33 million in total during his time on the show. He estimated his investments in the various businesses that came through to be worth $250 million.
“And I don’t always invest because I think I’ll make money. Sometimes my deals are purely to help [an entrepreneur] or send a message,” he also said.
Cuban’s final investment on Shark Tank was $125,000 for 10% of a restaurant dedicated entirely to deviled eggs with offbeat flavors like backyard BBQ, chicken & pickle, and chicken quesadilla. Unsurprisingly, his recommendation has been to only invest up to 10% in riskier endeavors.
“If you’re a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10% and put it in bitcoin or Ethereum; but, if you do that, you’ve got to pretend you’ve already lost your money,” Cuban told Vanity Fair in 2017. “It’s like collecting art, it’s like collecting baseball cards, it’s like collecting shoes — something’s worth what somebody else would pay for it. I’d limit (risky investments) to 10%.”
Cuban is also the former owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, now a minority investor, and at the time of his show debut, Shark Tank and Donald Trump’s Apprentice were both reality show winners, featuring looks into the business world.
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