Mark Cuban Divested from Shark Tank Tonight
Here’s the deal: Mark Cuban is done doing business with Shark Tank. The season-16 finale airing on May 16 marks the billionaire’s last episode as an investor on the ABC show. On the final day of filming, he appeared to be in good spirits, dancing in a behind-the-scenes set video posted to Instagram. “Three pitches left. How insane is that?” he said. “I mean, that’s just the craziest thing ever. 15 years … it’s been a good run.” During the episode itself, he got emotional as he reflected, “This show changed me. I think I changed the show, and I think we all together as sharks, changed America.”
Cuban first appeared on Shark Tank as a guest shark during the second season in 2011, then swam to a permanent spot on the cast the following year. In a recent Instagram post dedicated to “the big brother of all the Sharks,” fellow shark Daymond John recalled that Cuban had joined the show at a time when the business reality show had been “on the chopping block” and the network wanted a household name. “All the so-called stars turned it down because they didn’t want to sit next to us ‘nobodies,’” John said. “You didn’t blink. You said: ‘If this show is helping educate and inspire America’s kids and families, I’m in.’”
In 2023, Cuban announced his decision to leave, pointing to the three children he shares with wife Tiffany Stewart as the reason. “I just want to have a couple summers with my teens before they go off on their own,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “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.” He noted in a People interview this year that, in addition to family, he wants to commit more time to Cost Plus Drugs, the affordable pharmaceutical company he co-founded in 2022. Yesterday, he tweeted out his most succinct explanation yet for his departure: “Gonna miss it. But it was time to move on.” After more than a decade, he’s out.
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