After 12 years on Shark Tank, Mark Cuban, 65, is officially walking away from the hit competition series. The billionaire appeared on the Showtime podcast All The Smoke on November 21 and candidly confirmed that Season 16 will be his last. “This is our 15th year,” Mark said. “Next year, 16th year is going to be my last year. So I got one more year to go.”
Mark, who joined the series during Season 2, admitted that it is now “time” to exit the show. “I love it because it sends the message the American dream is alive and well,” he explained during the interview. “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.”
The star also went on to add that many viewers tell him that they’ve watched him on the show since they were children. “That’s what happens, right? Now we’ve got people coming on saying I watched you when I was 10 years old. I’m like, f***,” he continued. “But we’re helping them right? I’ve invested in, I don’t know how many hundreds of companies. On a cash basis, I’m down a little bit, but on mark to market meeting, the companies are still in operation. I’m way up.”
Although Mark announced his departure from the ABC series last week, the network has not released an official statement at the time of publication. The Life Is Half Random author went on to share what he looks for when someone comes on the show asking for a deal.
“I just listen to them. You can just tell. Body language matters, the harder they have to try to sell, the worse the deal … when someone walks in Shark tank, you can tell if they are trying too hard,” he said. “I have this rule: the longer the back story, the worse the deal. The minute you start telling me how hard it was for you, it’s hard for every m************ entrepreneur, tell me about your business, tell me why you are going to be successful.”
The business mogul has invested $19.85 million across 85 companies during his time on the show, as reported by Parade. His net worth in 2023 stands at $6.2 billion. However, he was reportedly worth $4.6 billion in April, per Forbes. He is also an author with the following titles under his belt: How to Win at the Sport of Business, Kid Start-Up: How YOU Can Become an Entrepreneur, How Any Kid Can Start a Business, and others.
Other Sharks on the series include Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O’Leary, among others.