Mark Cuban Ditched His Watch For 30 Years To Stay On His Own Time After Getting Rich — And He's Not Taking Calls Or Attending Meetings Either

Most people celebrate a big payday with a fancy purchase. A luxury car. A designer watch. Maybe even a yacht. Not Mark Cuban.

At 32, after selling his first startup, MicroSolutions, for $6 million, Cuban marked the moment by doing the exact opposite—he threw away his watch. He didn't want to be tied to anyone else's schedule ever again. "I didn't wear a watch for 30 years because I didn't want to be on anybody else's time," Cuban said in a December interview with People.

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For Cuban, time isn't just money—it's control. After years of working for other people, answering to schedules that weren't his own, he vowed that when he had the financial freedom, he wouldn't let anyone dictate his time. Even now, as a billionaire entrepreneur, former NBA team owner, and Shark Tank investor, he sticks to that rule.

And if you're hoping to catch Cuban on a phone call or in a meeting, good luck. "Am I going to meetings? No. Am I taking phone calls? No. Am I going to some office somewhere? No," Cuban said in the interview. "I can get everything done by sitting on a laptop or a phone anywhere in the world."

Instead, Cuban runs his empire through email. "People pretty much kiss my a** when it comes to business," he admitted. "I can tell them I'm doing everything via email. Period. End of story."

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It's a strategy that might seem unconventional, but it's clearly working. Cuban, who later co-founded Broadcast.com which Yahoo bought for $5.7 billion in 1999, built his fortune by staying ahead of trends and cutting out inefficiencies. His email-only approach eliminates wasted time, allowing him to focus on what actually moves the needle.

Mark Cuban has never followed the traditional playbook. He bought the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million in 2000, led them to their first NBA championship in 2011, and sold a 69% stake in 2023 in a deal valuing the team at around $4 billion.

For those willing to take risks, he suggests allocating up to 10% of savings into high-risk ventures, but only if they're comfortable considering that money already lost.  

But his success wasn't just luck or good timing. He lived cheaply, drove a $200 car, and avoided credit cards like the plague. He didn't just want to be rich—he wanted complete control over his time and choices. And that, more than anything, is what wealth means to him.

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