(NewsNation) — Entrepreneur Mark Cuban has made headlines this election cycle over his disdain for Elon Musk and support of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Whether the billionaire is on the campaign trail with Harris or making cable news appearances to back her, Cuban’s involvement in the election cycle has been notable.
Who is Mark Cuban?
Cuban is a businessman and television personality known for ABC’s “Shark Tank,” the show where aspiring entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to a panel of industry titans.
The former principal and minority owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, Cuban’s business ventures include founding IT corporation MicroSolutions and video portal Broadcast.com, which he sold for major profits.
His investments are varied — with some coming from his time as a “shark” on TV — and have banked him a whopping $5.7 billion net worth, according to Forbes.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native is also an author of one book, “How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It.”
Mark Cuban backs Kamala Harris
Cuban backed President Joe Biden prior to his exit from the 2024 presidential race, specifically defending his handling of the economy. He has since tweeted in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris multiple times, emerging as one of her most visible surrogates on the campaign trail.
Cuban told The Hill Harris has been “very transparent” about being open-minded, suggesting “she will listen to Republicans, independents like me and others.”
“She doesn’t base who she speaks to on loyalty,” he said. “She looks for diverse feedback before making a pragmatic decision.”
The 66-year-old is an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s aggressive approach to antitrust and cryptocurrency, two issues with which Democratic donors and some moderates who could be persuaded to choose Harris may still have concerns.
Despite these concerns, Cuban — alongside other billionaires, like avid Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk — has gone all in on this election cycle.
Another billionaire, fellow “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary told NewsNation, “I really don’t show for politicians, I show for politics.”
Mark Cuban outspoken against Elon Musk
In September, Cuban said X, the former Twitter, is “only as free as Elon [Musk] wants it to be,” adding that the Tesla owner is the “ultimate arbiter of everything on here.”
It’s not the first time Cuban has called Musk out for his approach to running X. During an interview with “The Daily Show” in August, he accused the South African entrepreneur of tailoring the platform to his own preferences via algorithm design.
Cuban has also spoken about AI and social media’s influence on the upcoming election, arguing that the current election cycle is being “driven” by artificial intelligence and algorithms.
“This seems to be to be a race where everyone’s frame of reference is influenced more by the narratives delivered by the algorithms we consume than the actual events themselves,” Cuban wrote Monday in a post on X. “Those algorithms evolve as new information, accurate or not, are posted. So none of us really have any idea how any event or reality will impact the Presidential and other important races this cycle.”
Mark Cuban joins NewsNation town hall
NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo hosted a preelection town hall Wednesday, giving voters a chance to have their say just days before the election.
Cuban was one of many special guests, who weighed in on the election’s biggest topics.
The billionaire said he “can’t deny that there’s inflation,” but there are more nuanced concerns at hand, including the cost of health care. Referencing Trump’s “concept of a plan” about replacing Medicare, Cuban pointed to Harris’ proposed medical changes.
“Under Trump … the inflation rate will only continue at the same rate or go up, which means you’re going to keep on going backwards if anybody in your family gets sick at all,” Cuban said.
Cuomo, along with guests Bill O’Reilly and Stephen A. Smith, led the conversation. Special guests included Cuban, Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice; Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship; and former candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now works with the Trump transition team.
NewsNation Senior Correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera will join the town hall as well, along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, and Democratic Congressmen Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Jared Moskowitz.
NewsNation’s Steph Whiteside and partner The Hill contributed to this report.
