Mark Cuban’s Questionable Investment

This article outlines Mark Cuban’s latest investment in Sharesleuth.com. The site sounds interesting enough, focusing on exposing corporate fraud, but Mark, do you really need to flaunt the fact that you intend to use this information to buy/sell stocks before the stories are published?! Jeez! Don’t you already have enough money without having to manipulate the system like this? Are you really going to short the stock of a company you find dirt on, then report the news so that you can watch the price fall and make a few bucks?

Seriously, I’m not naïve enough to think that Jim Cramer and other investment talking heads aren’t playing games like this too, but are we taking a step in the right direction by admitting and encouraging the practice? Uh, wouldn’t it be better to shame these people/organizations into changing their policies to eliminate this sort of thing?

Mark, I love what you’ve done with the Dallas Mavericks and I seriously hope you’ll one day do the same with my old hometown team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. I frequently read your blog and I respect you as a true visionary, the type of person who can make significant improvements to just about any industry you choose. While this is a fascinating journalism venture, I question your motives. If your ultimate goal is to encourage regulation of some sort, I applaud your efforts; on the other hand, if you’re just trying to get richer, shame on you.

Comments

[Steve]

I too admire Mark for his forward thinking and business pinache and I would agree with you on your distaste for his apparent "money-money-money" attitude if it weren't for reading something in one of the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series a few years ago.

I'm now of the mindset that Mark is simply doing what he does. He's a business person who is constantly pushing and experimenting with the boundaries of his chosen craft. It is not about the money - although it most likely will come - it is about doing.

As a former musician, I relate it to the fact that I would have jumped at the chance to play with everyone of 100 people at any time. Others might have seen that as greedy (geez, he's already playing with Sting, isn't that enough?), but that is NOT the point.

Mark just wants to play with everyone.