Why Mark Cuban Is Leaving 'Shark Tank'

Highlights

• Mark Cuban, one of the most popular "sharks" on Shark Tank , is leaving the show after 15 years, but not until 2025.
• Cuban's open-mindedness, willingness to support good causes, and business acumen have endeared him to the show's audience and contestants.
• Cuban's decision to start a pharmaceutical business and his desire to spend time with his children are examples of his commitment to finding solutions and prioritizing what's important to him.

Celebrity businessman Mark Cuban is leaving Shark Tank after 15 years.

Shark Tank is a business-focused reality competition show that airs on ABC in the United States, where it streams on Hulu and Amazon's Prime Video.

Mark Cuban is arguably the most recognizable of the show's "sharks," as well as the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks:

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In late 2022, Cuban was ranked by ScreenRant as the most popular "shark" on Shark Tank, in part for his open-mindedness, and in part for his business-related insights.

ScreenRant observed that a quality which "endears Cuban to the Shark Tank audience and contestants is his readiness to get behind a good cause," adding:

A billionaire by the age of 37, Mark Cuban's entrepreneurial, inherently positive attitude makes him the clear Shark Tank favorite.

He is gutsy yet encouraging and is beloved by his fellow sharks as well as budding entrepreneurs for his direct feedback and killer business instinct making him the best shark on the show.

ScreenRant cited an example of Cuban's decision to back a "medical Dopp kit," designed for travelers with specific medical needs.

In their ranking, the site mused that it was "evident that Cuban's reason to invest was less about the bottom line, and more about impacting and offering a viable solution to the lives of patients facing diabetes, fertility, and other sensitive treatments in today's busy world."

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That specific example brought to mind another project of Mark Cuban's: Cost Plus Drugs.

In late 2022, TIME magazine profiled the serial investor's pharmaceutical business, and asked why Cuban decided to start retailing inexpensive medications directly to the public.

Cuban reiterated an explanation featured prominently on Cost Plus Drugs' website, and one which has again endeared him to the public:

To f*** things up. That’s what capitalism is all about.

Capitalism isn’t just, ‘Everybody should make as much money as they can.’

Capitalism is about finding solutions to problems and seeing what you can do to solve them.

Cuban published a letter on the "Mission" section of Cost Plus Drugs' website, detailing his concern for Americans struggling to afford prescriptions (depicted in part below):

While Cuban's involvement with the NBA and his pharmaceutical company both brought him notoriety, Shark Tank is where Cuban was introduced to a broader audience (in particular, fans of the show).

Shark Tank first aired in August 2011, and while Mark Cuban is an extremely prominent "shark" (the show's judges and panelists), he didn't become a "shark" until 2011.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cuban first disclosed his plans to leaveShark Tank during an appearance on the podcast All The Smoke, which was uploaded to YouTube on November 21st:

During the episode, Cuban explained why he valued his time as a "shark" on Shark Tank:

I love it because it sends the message the American dream is alive and well.

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.

On November 27th, The Hollywood Reporter covered Cuban's decision to leave the show.

Cuban provided comment via email, and THR quoted him as attributing the decision to a desire to spend time with his teenaged children:

I just want to have a couple summers with my teens before they go off on their own ... [It has] nothing to do with the show. I love it. I love being on it. I love what [it] represents and how it motivates entrepreneurs around the world.

THR also referenced a previous comment by Cuban about Shark Tank and Cuban's feelings about wealth, originally published by Forbes:

On the one hand, I understand that nobody should have this much wealth, but it is what it is ... You make the best of it, and I don’t feel guilty about it at all. I busted my ass to get here.

Although Mark Cuban is leaving Shark Tank, it won't be right away – he told THR that he plans to "leave in 2025 after the next season is over."

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