Mark Cuban says he's leaving “Shark Tank” after next season: 'It's time'
The business mogul said on a podcast that season 16 will be his last with the reality series.
Mark Cuban may be hanging up his fins.
The business mogul, NBA team owner, and longtime Shark Tank star said during a recent podcast appearance that he intends to leave the ABC reality series after the next season concludes.
"This is our 15th year. Next year, 16th year's gonna be my last year, so I've got one more year to go," Cuban, 65, said on the All the Smoke podcast. "It's time."
EW has reached out to ABC for comment.
This isn't the first time Cuban has publicly flirted with ending his time on the show. Last year, he told PEOPLE that he was considering leaving Shark Tank after season 15 to spend more time with his family. "My daughter's in college now… When they were all in high school, all their schedules aligned. And so it was really easy to do the show," he said. "But now, you know, family first, always. And so I wanted to try to make sure I spent as much time with my daughter as I can, and my family as I can."
Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty
Mark Cuban on 'Shark Tank'Additionally, the 2014 Sony hacks revealed that Cuban was previously unhappy with his salary and threatened, "you may want to start cutting me out of the promos."
On All the Smoke, which is hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Cuban had nothing but praise for Shark Tank. "I love it because it sends the message that the American dream is alive and well," he said. "I feel like, in doing Shark Tank all these years, we've trained a generation of entrepreneurs — multiple generations of entrepreneurs — that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento, wherever, and show up on the carpet on Shark Tank and show their business and get a deal, that’s gonna inspire generations of kids, right?"
Cuban also opened up about his process for determining whether a business pitch has potential. "I have this rule," he said. "The longer the backstory, the worse the deal. Meaning the minute you start telling me how hard it was for you — it's hard for every motherf---ing entrepreneur, right? I don't need to hear your backstory! Tell me about your business, tell me why you're going to be successful, tell me what's different about it."
Watch the video above for more from Cuban.
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