Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban has said that he is planning on leaving the American business reality series Shark Tank in 2025 after its 16th season. Cuban has been part of the Mark Burnett-created show for over 15 years.
He said this last week in the Showtime podcast All The Smoke to hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, before confirming it in an email to The Hollywood Reporter.
“I just want to have a couple of summers with my teens before they go off on their own. Nothing to do with the show. I love it. I love being on it. I love what it represents and how it motivates entrepreneurs around the world,” read the email as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
ABC’s show features aspiring entrepreneurs who pitch their start-up ideas to a panel of investors called “sharks.” Cuban featured as a guest shark in the second season and has been a shark in the show since third season in 2012.
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“I love it because it sends the message the American dream is alive and well. I feel like in doing Shark Tank all these years, we’ve trained multiple generations of entrepreneurs that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento or wherever, and show up on the carpet of Shark Tank and show their business and get a deal, it’s going to inspire generations of kids. That’s what happens, right?” said Cuban to Barnes and Jackson.
“Now we’ve got people coming on saying I watched you when I was 10 years old. I’m like, f*ck. But we’re helping them, right? I’ve invested in, I don’t know how many hundreds of companies. On a cash basis, I’m down a little bit, but on mark-to-market meetings, the companies are still in operation. I’m way up,” he added
