” How I spent my first million dollars? This is obviously not a series published this summer in L’Humanité, and it is rather GQ magazine who regularly asks this question to personalities from the sports world. On the side of the NBA, Donovan Mitchell, PJ Washington or even Jaren Jackson Jr. and Tyler Herro revealed what they had done with this sum, and the richest of all, mark cuban also answered the question.
For the owner of the Mavericks, the title is a bit different since the question is as follows: “How Mark Cuban turned his first million dollars into a billion? »
The answer ? By creating start-ups that he sold at a high price, such as MicroSolutions and Broadcom.com. When Yahoo! buys back his baby, he finds himself a billionaire, and it is now his turn to buy businesses to make them grow. His second major purchase will be the Mavericks, which he offered for 285 million dollars in January 2000. The owner of the Texas franchise thus tells why he had bought this franchise, and the means he has put in place for the value.
“I came for the opening match of the 1999/2000 season. It’s the first game of the season, and the hall isn’t full. There was no energy in the room. I’m a year-round subscriber, huge Mavericks fan. I’m here, thinking, and I tell myself that I can improve on that. I then realize that I can walk the talk. We are at the beginning of November. On January 4, I own the Mavericks. »
“We had eight, nine salespeople… I put my desk right in the middle of them, I took out a phone book…”
Mark Cuban arrives in the offices, and he decides to put himself in the middle of his employees. He doesn’t want a separate office. He wants to impose the management methods of Silicon Valley in his franchise.
“When I took over the Mavericks, I didn’t have a big office. I didn’t care about having a desk, having a big one. We had a space for selling tickets that we called the aquarium because it was in an open office with all these windows. And we had eight, nine sales people… I put my desk right in the middle of them, took out a phone book and printed out the list of past clients. Just sitting next to them, I started dialing a number, trying to sell the Mavericks. »
And how does he manage to fill the room? He finds a shocking argument, especially for families.
“Ma’am, I know you’ve come to Mavericks games, but do you know that now it’s cheaper to see a game than to bring your family to McDonald’s?” Our tickets start at $8. A McDo + a Coke cost more. Why not come and try? The first game is free, that’s for me. »
“If we can align our interests with those of our employees, things will work out”
For Mark Cuban, beyond the commercial gesture, it was important that his employees understand that he would put his hand in the paw, and that he would also do what he asks of them on a daily basis.
“I wanted everyone who worked with me to see that if I asked them to do it, I would do it. What I did in the offices, I did with the players on the pitch. We moved to a new room, the American Airlines Center. I wanted the players to feel good about going to work. We installed PlayStations, we put television screens, even today. We improved it in terms of the atmosphere, because it has an impact on you. Especially before a game when you want excitement. The light has more impact on you… All those things that try to give our players more, to help us win, but also to help them succeed. When you run a business, if you can align your interests with those of our employees, things will work. »
