Mark Cuban is sharing his secrets to becoming a billionaire.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of his exit from the hit show Shark Tank, the entrepreneur, 66, shared the eight rules he follows in his career and personal life. From money to parenting, Cuban explains that there’s no one road to success.
“I was born at the right time so that when the internet technology really took off, we were able to start AudioNet, which turned into Broadcast.com, which turned into the first streaming company, which went public and I could turn around and sell for $5.7 billion in stock,” he says. “That was luck — being able to do all the work and learn how all the technology worked, that was work. The other half though, I had no control over.”
“Life is half random,” he continues. “It’s what you do with the half you can control that really sets a tone for your entire life.”
Because of that, Cuban notes that every successful person — including himself — also experiences failures. In the long run, though, the one idea that doesn’t fail is going to be what you remember, he says.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you fail, you only have to be right once, then everybody can call you an overnight success,” he explains, later adding that his motto is: “Ask yourself, ‘Why not me? Why can’t I be the one who changes the world?’”
Now, Cuban says he doesn’t work the way he used to — in fact, he doesn’t even take phone calls because “people pretty much kiss my ass when it comes to business, [so] I can tell them I’m doing everything via email,” he jokes.
And while other luxuries come with wealth, Cuban reveals he barely ever splurges on anything.
“When I first made money I did go out and buy things, I bought a house, bought a plane,” he says. “But since then, I literally even had a conversation with my wife not long ago that, ‘Okay, we’re allowed to go out and buy some stuff, so if we want to, let’s go look at things.’ But I’m not a big spender.”
Chris Kleponis/WHITE HOUSE POOL
Cuban also credits his wife, Tiffany Stewart, with much of his success, saying another rule he lives by is “if you can’t stand alone, you can’t stay together.” When it comes to their family, she coordinates all things related to their three children.
“My wife and I have a great relationship,” he gushes. “She’s independent, smart, kind, curious. She’s always reading and learning and exposed to new things, and through osmosis and as much conversation as I can, I learn from her a lot.”
“More importantly, or as importantly, she’s in charge of our children,” he says. “I show up, but she organizes it all. I get told where to be and when, whether it’s pictures for homecoming, whether it’s greeting a first date, whether it’s going and picking the kids up. I also get late duty so she’ll take them to school in the morning and now when they’re out late, you know anything past 10 p.m. is late, I’m the one who’s got to go pick them up, and it’s always been that way. But we make a great duo.”
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Shark Tank airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
