Misplaced Pages

#142857

51-397: HDNet Fights was founded in 2007 by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban , owner and founder of HDNet , as a programming cornerstone to build the new network on. Cuban's goal was to present MMA in a manner more in line with other professional sports, while eliminating ancillary details such as ring card girls. Taking a hands-on approach in the business and promotion of MMA, Cuban became one of

102-677: A $ 10 million valuation. Cuban proposed a $ 5 million valuation, but never heard back from Kalanick. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc. , which was acquired by AOL . In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc.,

153-447: A San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick . However, the show has not materialized. In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com , a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with

204-496: A bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter . After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank , where he immersed himself in the study of machines and networking. On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas , Texas, where he first found a job as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He

255-484: A broadcast of its "Sengoku" events, opening with World Victory Road' s first event of 2009 on March 20. Under the HDNet Fights banner, the network's broadcast lineup included DREAM , Sengoku , K-1 and K-1 Max, Strikeforce , Adrenaline MMA , SportFight , Ring of Fire , Ring of Combat, M-1 Global , Ring of Honor , Maximum Fighting Championship , Affliction Entertainment , Urban Conflict Championship and

306-507: A diverse business career that included founding MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com , both of which he sold at substantial profits. Cuban's investments span various industries, from technology and media to sports and entertainment. He has been a prominent figure in the NBA, known for his active involvement with the Mavericks (with which he won the 2011 NBA Championship as owner), and disputes with

357-551: A few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale and would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so. Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment , which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video. On September 24, 2003,

408-465: A fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings , written and directed by Brian De Palma . In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted , citing copyrights/permissions issues. In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get

459-448: A headlining fight between RFA Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja and Legacy Flyweight Champion Damacio Page , two co-main events featuring intra-organizational title fights for each promotion, and three fights between RFA and Legacy contenders on the main card. AXS TV Fights broadcast its 300th combat sports event on October 23, 2016, with Lion Fight 25. On Sept. 19, 2016, RFA president Ed Soares appeared on "The MMA Hour" to announce

510-465: A lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $ 100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in

561-686: A layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas , a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it." Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011. As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for

SECTION 10

#1732783375143

612-467: A new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock before making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice

663-537: A pair of expensive sneakers. A few years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh , where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity . After one year at

714-411: A total of $ 19.9 million invested. The actual numbers may vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of fire hose adapters, after agreeing to a deal of $ 1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with

765-624: A traditional ring or cage. The pilot episode was a two-hour "best of" special, featuring lightweight and middleweight tournaments from 2012. English commentary was provided by Cyrus Fees and Casey Oxendine. AXS TV Fights' presentation of LION FIGHT 16 on July 4, 2014, was the network's historic 250th fight broadcast. On March 21, 2015, AXS TV Fights announced it would hold its first ever co-promoted mixed martial arts event featuring fighters from Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) and Legacy Fighting Championship (Legacy) May 8, 2015. The event, titled "AXS TV Fights: RFA vs. Legacy Superfight" included

816-548: Is Jewish , and grew up in Mount Lebanon , a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the surname from "Chabenisky" to "Cuban" after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island . His maternal grandparents were Romanian Jewish immigrants, according to Mark's brother Brian, though Mark has claimed his maternal grandmother was from Lithuania . Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for

867-473: Is legal in view of full disclosure. In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs! . In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book , How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It , which he described as "a way to get motivated". In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over

918-757: The Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $ 1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $ 1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $ 2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management . Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming

969-482: The 2011 NBA Finals . In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center . In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. On March 4, 2021, Cuban announced

1020-664: The Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $ 600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan , but lost

1071-620: The National Basketball Association (NBA), co-owner of 2929 Entertainment , and was one of the main "sharks" on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank . Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , Cuban was involved at a young age in ventures ranging from selling garbage bags to running newspapers during a strike. He graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and embarked on

SECTION 20

#1732783375143

1122-544: The dot com boom , Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $ 5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction" after purchasing a Gulfstream V jet for $ 40 million over the internet in October 1999. Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com and Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within

1173-486: The social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket , a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. In 2005, Cuban invested $ 1.7 million in file-sharing company RedSwoosh , co-founded by Travis Kalanick , providing much-needed capital to the company after the early 2000s recession . Red Swoosh was acquired by Akamai for $ 19 million in 2007. Kalanick later approached Cuban in 2009 to invest in his next venture Uber at

1224-811: The MMA organization Combate Americas announced broadcast deal for 35 events in 2020. AXS TV Fights' commentary team included UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich and sports broadcaster and reporter Ron Kruck, with media personality Phoenix Carnevale reporting cageside. Sports broadcaster "The Voice" Michael Schiavello was the play-by-play commentator from 2009 to 2017. In May 2017 Schiavello announced his last event with AXS TV Fights would be Legacy Fighting Alliance 13 in Burbank, CA. From 2010 to 2016, Schiavello also conducted in-depth interviews with combat sports stars on The Voice Versus , which aired intermittently in primetime. AXS TV Fights currently broadcasts events from

1275-543: The Mavericks would begin accepting Dogecoin as payment for both merchandise as well as tickets to games. In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing

1326-450: The U.S. government's $ 700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions. It no longer exists as a website. In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching

1377-568: The University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana , where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management . He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". He had various business ventures during college, including

1428-573: The acquisition of goods and services. The community for doge is the strongest when it comes to using it as a medium of exchange." After Voyager Digital , a cryptocurrency lender, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks were named in a class-action lawsuit that alleged that Voyager Digital was a Ponzi scheme the following month due to Cuban's promotion of Voyager and Voyager's sponsorship with

1479-532: The aim of lowering generic drug prices for end consumers in the U.S. On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA 's Dallas Mavericks for $ 285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69% of their regular season games and reached

1530-589: The anthem. On November 28, 2023, The Dallas Morning News reported that Cuban was in the process of selling his share in the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson . On December 27, 2023, the NBA approved the sale of a controlling interest of 73% in the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families. Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $ 1.3 billion to buy

1581-412: The category came into existence it won the award for outstanding reality program for two consecutive seasons (2012 to 2013), all of these awards came after he joined. As of 2023, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show. He announced in November 2023 that the show's 16th season will be his last. Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures . Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted ,

AXS TV Fights - Misplaced Pages Continue

1632-454: The company's largest clients was Perot Systems . The company grew to more than $ 30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe —then a subsidiary of H&R Block —for $ 6 million (over $ 14.7 million today). He made approximately $ 2 million after taxes on the deal. In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb, who retained 10% of

1683-475: The company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting . With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $ 13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show . That year, during

1734-505: The company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud; it was alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft

1785-567: The deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series . In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers , but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $ 1 billion, telling

1836-400: The deal. Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $ 1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions , Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages . Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased , and also during his tenure, the show has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 to 2017). Before

1887-491: The firm purchased Landmark Theatres , a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search , which was broadcast on CBS . 2929 Entertainment released Bubble , a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh , in 2006. Cuban was featured on the cover of Best magazine's November 2003 premiere issue, announcing the arrival of high-definition television . Cuban also

1938-530: The following promotions: AXS TV Fights has previously broadcast events from the following promotions: Under the HDNET Fights banner, the network broadcast fights from the following promotions: Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American businessman and television personality. He is the former principal owner and current minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks of

1989-402: The league's management. In his side ventures, Cuban has been involved in philanthropy, political commentary, and reality television. Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , on July 31, 1958. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer . Cuban described his mother, Shirley (née Feldman ), as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week." Cuban

2040-419: The merger of Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship to become Legacy Fighting Alliance beginning in 2017. The newly announced promotion also signed a multi-year deal with AXS TV Fights. The network celebrated its 400th live event broadcast with LFA 40 on May 25, 2018 On September 13, 2019, was announced the end of the partnership between AXS TV and LFA. On November 6, 2019, AXS TV and

2091-554: The network announced a multi-year deal with CES MMA . The following January, the network joined forces with Legacy Fighting Championship , airing the promotion’s first-ever kickboxing event on January 16, 2015. On March 14, 2014 AXS TV Fights aired the North American premiere of the Russian Hip Show: Arena Combat. A two-on-two, points-based fighting event on a padded obstacle course instead of

AXS TV Fights - Misplaced Pages Continue

2142-586: The now-defunct IFL , among others. Since its regeneration as AXS TV Fights, the program has become a major fixture in AXS TV' s Friday night programming line-up, with the network airing over 40 live events per year. The AXS TV Fights broadcast lineup has featured events from promotions including BAMMA (USA) , Legacy Fighting Championship , Lion Fight Muay Thai , Maximum Fighting Championship , Resurrection Fighting Alliance , Titan Fighting Championships , and Xtreme Fighting Championships . In August 2014,

2193-622: The playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat . NBA team owners historically play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban, however, sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V —to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr. , who retained 5% ownership, filed

2244-417: The price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties." Cuban has invested in the cryptocurrency Dogecoin , as well as accepting the particular cryptocurrency as a method of payment for Dallas Mavericks merchandise and tickets since at least early 2021. After being asked by CNBC for his thoughts on the payment method, Cuban responded, "It’s a medium that can be used for

2295-597: The rights to air Japanese Fighting and Entertainment Group 's MMA promotion Dream in the United States for the first time ever, HDNet premiered a repeat of the Dream 1 event on May 2, 2008. A repeat of Dream 2 aired the following day, and Dream 3 aired live on May 11. On February 6, 2009, HDNet announced they had reached an agreement with another Japanese MMA promotion, and competitor to Dream, World Victory Road . The promotion made its United States debut with

2346-602: The series was canceled before the full season aired due to poor ratings. In 2018, Cuban was no. 190 on Forbes ' list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $ 3.9 billion. Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster . He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology , a web-based basketball scouting and video delivery tool used by many NBA teams. Cuban has also assisted ventures in

2397-564: The sport's most vocal defenders in his blogs and interviews. HDNet Fights hosted its first self-promoted event on October 13, 2007, featuring a light-heavyweight main event contest between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford . The program's second and final event, Reckless Abandon , was held two months later. Realizing that the company's strength did not lie in hosting fight cards, Cuban re-vamped the HDNet Fights concept, as HDNet began broadcasting live weekly events from other organizations, including many top regional fight promotions. After acquiring

2448-578: The team. In February 2022, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media . In September 2023, Cuban's MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet was drained by scammers. As a result he had lost about $ 870,000 worth of tokens. In January 2022, Cuban launched the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company , with

2499-487: Was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network. In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor . The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $ 1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but

2550-416: Was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store. Cuban co-founded MicroSolutions with support from his previous customers at Your Business Software. Initially, MicroSolutions operated as a systems integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy , Lotus Notes , and CompuServe . One of

2601-549: Was going to be acquired by Cisco . Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants. In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher , Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, acquired a 50% stake in Veldskoen Shoes United States business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital , BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed

SECTION 50

#1732783375143
#142857