Mark Cuban

Mark Cuban became best known this year for his turn on the ABC hit Dancing with the Stars but it was when Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks on January 14, 2000, that he was thrust into the public spotlight.  Cuban was able to change the face of the Mavericks. He turned games into party atmospheres.   

He became the first owner in team sports to encourage fan interaction through e-mail on his personal computer. It was through this personal touch that fans fell in love with him. He personally responded to thousands of emails, and several suggestions from fans have led to innovative changes.

 Before the start of the 2001-02 season, Cuban co-founded HDNet, an all high-definition television network on DIRECTV which launched in September 2001.  

Prior to purchasing the Mavericks, Cuban co-founded Broadcast.com, the leading provider of multimedia and streaming on the Internet, in 1995, selling it to Yahoo! in July of 1999. Before Broadcast.com, Cuban co-founded MicroSolutions, a leading National Systems Integrator, in 1983, and later sold it to CompuServe.

Today, in addition to his ownership of the Mavericks, Cuban is an active investor in leading and cutting-edge technologies and continues to be a sought-after speaker. In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart, an advertising executive, in a private ceremony in Barbados. The couple had their first child in September 2004. In June 2007, Cuban underwent hip replacement surgery. The family lives in Dallas.