Billionaire Mark Cuban Was Asked What Financial Advice He Would Give To Someone 'Newly Rich'—His 3-Word Answer: 'Cash Is King'

You'll hear it constantly: cash just sits there. It doesn't earn, it doesn't grow, and according to Warren Buffett, it loses value over time. In his words, "cash is always a bad investment" because of inflation—it simply doesn't keep up. But for billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, cash has always had one thing going for it: it gives you options.

Back in 2010, Forbes asked Cuban, "What financial advice do you have for someone who is newly rich?" He didn't give a lecture. He didn't plug a strategy. He gave three words: "Cash is king."

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That may sound counterintuitive. If someone's newly rich, don't they already have cash? Isn't the next step to put it to work—invest it, scale it, diversify it? But Cuban's advice wasn't about hoarding wealth. It was about not rushing to deploy it.

In a 2011 post on his "Blog Maverick" blog, Cuban laid out his full playbook in How to Get Rich. At that point, he was already a billionaire, but he looked back at his early days—living with five roommates, sleeping on the floor, eating mustard and ketchup sandwiches. He didn't romanticize it, but he made it clear: that stretch of raw discipline was how he got started.

His advice was to save aggressively. Spend as little as possible. Forget about credit cards. And don't jump into investing just because everyone says to.

"Instead of coffee, drink water," he wrote. "Instead of going to McDonald's, eat Mac and Cheese." And above all, "If you use a credit card, you don't want to be rich."

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He wasn't just telling people to hoard money. He was explaining that having cash on hand—real, accessible, liquid cash—meant you were ready. Ready for a deal. Ready for a drop. Ready to move when others couldn't.

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That idea hasn't changed. During an interview on CNBC's Halftime Report in January, Cuban said he was holding cash again. Not because he didn't know what to do—but because, at that moment, he didn't see anything worth chasing.

"I have gone to cash because I was concerned about tariffs. I was concerned about the uncertainty," he told CNBC's Scott Wapner. "How high can this market go?"

Even after a sell-off, he stayed on the sidelines. Cuban said he wasn't seeing the kind of up-and-coming companies or public market deals that would make him want to dive back in. The cash was staying put.

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His reasoning isn't about fear. It's about readiness. Holding cash gives you speed. It gives you leverage. You don't have to panic-sell something else just to take advantage of a crash. You can't buy the dip if you don't have money to buy it with.

That doesn't mean cash is always the best place to sit forever. It's not about avoiding risk—Cuban's taken plenty. It's about timing and flexibility. Some people keep cash for emergencies. Some keep it for peace of mind. Cuban keeps it for opportunity.

Because when everyone else is over-leveraged or fully invested, the one holding cash gets to choose. And in Cuban's world, that's what keeps cash on the throne.

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