The Continuing Education of Mark Cuban
BILLIONAIRE BUSINESS MAN, SHARK TANK regular and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has never been shy about saying what was on his mind. Recently he sat down with Jordan Harbinger, host of the The Jordan Harbinger Show podcast and a Newsweek contributor, to share his thoughts on protest and racism in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, how he learned some tough lessons about leadership and what America needs to do if it really wants to compete economically with China. Here are the highlights, lightly edited for clarity:
His Advice to Businesses Now
I’M TELLING THEM ALL THE EXACT SAME THING. One, you have to be transparent. Two, you have to be honest. Three, you have to be authentic. Four, you have to talk. You have to communicate, because everybody’s freaked out. Everybody’s uncertain. Everybody’s working with imperfect information. You have to recognize that when everybody’s afraid, the best way to deal with it is by coming together.
[You] only want to do business with people who represent the things that are important to you. And if you’re not taking care of your employees, if you’re not taking care of your stakeholders, your brand is going to be damaged forever. Young kids are going to carry that with them for decades. I think those big companies are recognizing how they present themselves, how they interact in society, how they worked from the bottom up, instead of the traditional top down, is going to define their brand for decades.
George Floyd: “The only surprise is that it’s taken this long”
PEOPLE ARE ANGRY. THERE’S SYSTEMIC RACISM. The people
