Mark Cuban is preparing to say his goodbyes to the Shark Tank boardroom.
“This is our 15th year, and next year, our 16th year, is gonna be my last year,” Cuban revealed during a recent interview on the “All the Smoke” Showtime basketball podcast. “So I got one more year to go.”
Cuban explained that after being on the show for more than a decade he feels like “it’s time” for him to move on. The Dallas Mavericks owner has been a staple on the series since he first joined as a guest star on the second season in 2011. He signed on to be a full-time panelist for season 3. Despite his exit, which won’t begin until 2025, Cuban shared that has a lot of admiration for the show and inspiring a new wave of entrepreneurs.
“I love it because it sends the message [that] the American dream is alive and well,” he explained. “I feel like in doing Shark Tank all these years, we’ve trained multiple generations of entrepreneurs that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento or wherever, and show up on the carpet of Shark Tank and show their business and get a deal, it’s going to inspire generations of kids. That’s what happens, right?”
He continued: “Now we’ve got people coming on saying, ‘I watched you when I was 10 years old.’ I’m like, ‘F–k. But we’re helping them, right? I’ve invested in, I don’t know how many hundreds of companies.”
Shark Tank is currently airing season 15 on ABC. In addition to Cuban, the reality series also has a panel of investors including Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner.
Earlier this year, Cuban exclusively opened up to Us Weekly about his time on the show and why he ultimately decided to join the series.
“I had seen the show and I’m like, ‘[the Sharks] suck. I could come on and do a much better job,’” he quipped to Us. “And so when they had me come on first as the guest shark … I got there and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m just going to tear them up. I’m just going to raise hell.’ And then I’ve been there ever since.”
As Cuban appeared on the show for 12 seasons, he invested in countless companies, but there was one product whose success surprised him the most.
“So Beatbox beverages is kind of a wine cooler and now a spritzer as well. And [the founders] came on just a bunch of partying guys and one girl out of Austin. And I’m like, ‘OK, it’ll be fun,’” he told Us. “I gave them a million dollars for a third of the company and now they’re worth over $200 million.
