Mark Cuban earned a reputation as one of the most unconventional team owners during his 24 years heading the Dallas Mavericks, and now that he’s sold the team, he’s making a very unconventional exit.
NBA owners voted unanimously in late December to approve Cuban’s sale of the Mavs to a pair of Las Vegas families, the Adelsons and Dumonts, who operate the Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Cuban will retain a 27 percent share of the franchise and will continue running the team’s basketball operations, but he sold his controlling interest in the team that is valued at more than $4 billion.
Yet Cuban, who purchased the Mavs in 2000 for $285 million, isn’t the only one reaping a windfall. The owner sent employees an email Friday detailing how he will share roughly $35 million from the sale with team employees.
“As a thank you for all your hard work making the Mavs an amazing organization, each of you will be receiving a bonus from myself, and the Adelson and Dumont families. … You will receive your bonus in the very near future,” the email read.
An email from Mark Cuban to Mavs employees informing them of a plan to pay approximately $35M in bonuses in the wake of selling a majority stake of the franchise: pic.twitter.com/omoamjRA1H
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 5, 2024
Cuban explained that the bonus money for each employee will take into account their time of service with the team.
It’s not unusual to see business owners share the wealth with employees in such a situation, but sports fans thought Cuban’s bonus plan seems exceptionally generous.
the mavericks do not have a lot of employees. depending on how this is split up, this could be a life changing amount of money for them. https://t.co/uZpP4FzvGU
— Josh Bowe (@Boweman55) January 5, 2024
Pizza parties or wine at Christmas don’t mean jack when you work for a billionaire owner. You want to build a culture where people are motivated and valued? This is how you do it.
The standard Mark Cuban sets is the one that other owners should be held to. https://t.co/ChhCBMxQvI
— Rachel Doerrie (@racheldoerrie) January 5, 2024
Mark Cuban is one of the more likable owners in professional sports. https://t.co/AI8qfCsRfO
— Christian Williams (@CWilliamsNFL) January 5, 2024
@mcuban Very cool to see Mark – good on you for doing this and making sure your employees share in the growth of the team. Well done.
— Dude (@DPGSpurs) January 5, 2024
Nice job @mcuban taking care of your employees.
— Brandon Tyler (@BrandonTyler) January 5, 2024
Best governor in team history. Never heard of anything like this before.
— Naysayer, PLEASE! (@_MrKMunroe) January 5, 2024
