"Bill Gates stole my girls" — Shark Tank mentor Mark Cuban details his experience of tech parties

Shark Tank's Mark Cuban recently appeared in an interview with Jules Terpak, titled The evolution of the tech industry (ft. Mark Cuban), posted on YouTube on December 17, 2024. In the interview, the business mogul discussed the tech industry's growth, revisiting landmark events from the time. One such moment was when he claimed that businessman Bill Gates "stole" his women.

In one of the segments of the interview, while detailing the rise of the personal computer in the 1980s and its influence on the technology industry, Mark Cuban commented on the functioning of big conventions and tech parties. He recalled one such party where the women he was mingling with left him to join Bill Gates.

"I'm hitting on these girls and hanging out with them, you know, and they were gone, and I found out that Bill Gates stole my girls," he recalled.

The Shark Tank star added that the event occurred at COMDEX, a once-renowned computer industry trade show held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 1979 to 2003. Mark revealed that those conventions and parties were usually attended by entrepreneurs, business moguls, and technology enthusiasts, who wished to expand their social network or know about the latest products.

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Shark Tank's Mark Cuban says the technology parties used to be "huge"

In one of the interview segments, Mark recalled when personal computers and companies like IBM, HP, and Microsoft were coming to the forefront, calling the era "insane." He added that his own business was booming, so much so that big financial events like the October 1987 crisis could not hinder his growth.

"PCs were rocket ship. Software was rocket ship," Mark said.

The Shark Tank cast member then stated that companies used to hold "big conventions" that were fun to attend. It was a "different era," Mark added, expressing how mindblown he used to be by the events orchestrated at that time.

He then explained that there were two types of conventions: the first that focused on technology, featuring "big booze" and new inventions, and the second that he called "the parties." As he remembered the parties, he said:

"Oh my God. It was just, like, crazy."

When host Jules interjected that "tech parties" did not sound entertaining, Mark disagreed and said it was a different era during which people's concept of having fun differed from today's.

The Shark Tank investor revisited the time Bill Gates "stole" his girls, a story he mentioned in his book How to Win at the Sports of Business, published in 2011. Regardless, he remembered how influential the party culture was during that time.

"But there was just non-stop parties. Non-stop. Um, and they were huge. And, you know, big bands playing and everything," Mark said.

The parties, particularly the ones in Las Vegas, were often attended by 125,000 people at a time. Mark stated that CES or the Consumer Electronics Show deemed one of the largest trade shows, focusing more on showcasing hardware, held similar parties.

In another video podcast, titled, Mark Cuban on Bill Gates Stealing His Girl!, published on July 15, 2022, on the FULL SEND PODCAST's YouTube channel, Mark spoke about his encounter with Bill Gates.

"I'm buying these girls drinks and doing shots and everything and they're like, 'I've got to go to the bathroom' I think for real and then they don't come back and I'm like, 'What the f**k?'" Mark recalled.

Bill Gates went public with Microsoft in 1986 which sprung him into the limelight. The Shark Tank cast member stated that Bill Gates was "maybe worth a million dollars" at that time.

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Shark Tank season 16 airs every Friday at 8 pm ET exclusively on ABC.