“Always thought in terms of time” - Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban shares his journey from $1 million to $1 billion

Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban has appeared on the ABC series where he gave financial advice and signed deals with aspiring entrepreneurs. Mark is the owner of World Champion Dallas Mavericks and is also a best-selling author. He has published How to Win at the Sport of Business and has co-founded the first commercial streaming company AudioNet as well as streaming on the internet.

During his conversation with GQ Sports on October 19, 2022, Mark reflected on his journey of building a billion-dollar empire. He stated that his motivation was never making a lot of money and becoming rich but valuing time and destiny. Mark said:

"I never ever thought in terms of money, okay I need to make millions. I always thought in terms of time. It's always been my driving motivation, how can I control my destiny, how can I control my on time."

The interview description introduced Mark building an empire by investing in Dallas Mavericks and then founding MicroSolutions. It continues:

"From investing in what would become the very first streaming company in 1995 to purchasing the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million dollars, this is how billionaire Mark Cuban made, saved, and invested his first million dollars before turning it into a billion-dollar empire."

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Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban reflects on his journey of building a billion-dollar empire

In his interview, Mark discussed his journey about getting rich and becoming worth more than 20 million dollars. Despite attaining tremendous success, Mark did not want to waste the money and "get greedy." For Mark, becoming successful meant "freedom" rather than a flashy, luxurious lifestyle. The Shark Tank investor explained:

"I could have gone out, bought a bigger house, bought a nicer car, I didn't care. what it bought me as freedom. I never thought I was gonna work again. I made a ton of money in the stock market. I was worth 20 plus million dollars, life was good."

After Mark was given an offer by Yahoo linked to his streaming portal, he became a billionaire as the "stock price tripled." The Shark Tank star elaborated that after he sold the streaming portal to Yahoo, more doors opened for him:

"When we took that company, we became the biggest media portal on the internet. And then Yahoo came along and made us that offer. And all of a sudden, that stock price tripled and I was a billionaire."

During this time Mark was careful about not chasing money and running after making as much money as he could. According to him, the main lesson in his journey was to "protect" his billion-dollar empire and "not get greedy." Mark stated:

"It taught me a hell of a lesson, when you just chase dollars it never works out well. I was worth a billion dollars, that was the most insane thing that I could ever come to realize all I had to do was protect it and to not get greedy."

Stream Shark Tank exclusively on ABC. Viewers can follow Mark Cuban on his official Instagram account to get more financial and business advice.