Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban is a billionaire entrepreneur who has built a huge empire through his business ventures. He often sells his businesses and uses the money to invest in more innovative things.
However, in his December 6, 2024, interview with People, he revealed that in his early days, he would occasionally splurge his income on things he enjoyed.
In a September 28, 2019, interview with GQ, Mark shared a memory from his early days of success, when he sold Broadcast.com, revealing how he bought a mention for half its price. He further mentioned that the house was so big that he used to use the ballroom to play wiffle ball with his friends.
"My buddies would come over and it was big enough, you could curve the ball and hit and run and hit home runs," the Shark Tank star said.
"The place is enormous"—Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban describes the layout of his first mansion
In the interview, Shark Tank's Mark Cuban read a tweet from one of his fans, which mentioned how Mark used to play wiffleball in the first mansion he bought after the sale of Broadcast.com. The tweet asked if this fact was true.
"Read in a book on Mavs history you would play whiffleball in the first mansion you bought after the Broadcastdotcom sale. Accurate?" the tweet read.
The Shark Tank investor responded that the fact was "absolutely" accurate. He shared the story about how he bought his first mansion and how he used to play wiffleball in it with his friends.
He recalled that after he sold Broadcast.com, one of his former partners approached him with an incredible opportunity. The partner told him about an enormous house that had been built for $25 million. He added that he could get the house for him for half the price—$12 million.
Mark was intrigued by the offer and saw it as a potentially great deal. He wasted no time and told his partner that he'd buy the place "sight unseen."
"The place is enormous. 24,000 square feet, I still, to this day, don't know how many bedrooms or bathrooms. A year or two would go by and I wouldn't go upstairs, and there're rooms I still haven't been in in years," the Shark Tank investor added.
He described the layout of the ballroom in his first mansion, mentioning key features like a fireplace, a window, a pillar, and a bar.
Mark then humorously sets the scene by sharing that he used the area to play wiffle ball, positioning bases (home plate, first, second, and third base) around the room. He added that, at the time, he had his own wiffle ball bat.
"In the ballroom, there was a fireplace, a window, there was a pillar, and a bar. Home plate, first base, second base, third base. I had a whiffle ball bat and a whiffle ball, because every guy who lives on their own does,' he said.
The Shark Tank investor further shared that his friends used to come over and play with him. He humorously noted that this was the time before he got married, and he had very little furniture in his mansion. Hence it was convenient for him and his friend to play the game with a large amount of space.
Even though it has been years since he bought the mansion, he still owns it and has the wiffle ball bat with him. He further added a humorous touch to the story by mentioning that his dog ate the wiffle ball.
"Until I got married, effectively, I had no furniture. And we played whiffle ball in my ballroom. I still have the house and I still have the whiffle ball bat, and literally, just the other day, the dog ate the whiffle ball," he concluded.
Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.