MARK CUBAN WAS CONFIDENT HE wouldn't be recognized in Boston Common. This was early June, and it happened to be the day of the Boston Dyke March, billed as an "anti-capitalist intersectional gender liberation" event. On our walk over to the park, people had bum-rushed the billionaire, angling for an autograph or selfie. Basketball fans on the street lit up at the sight of himthe minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. But as we strolled the 50-acre stretch of green, considered the oldest public park in the US, Cuban the capitalist assured me that this crowd couldn't be less interested in him.
"Mark Cubannnnn!" a young woman screeched just then. She hurried over. Her friends joined. They were infectiously joyful, wearing strips of rainbow fabric fashioned into skirts, and they wanted a selfie. Cuban obliged, beaming like a dad.
Cuban, now 66, is at a turning point. Late last year he announced that the upcoming season of ABC's Shark Tank, the reality show that catapulted him to fame, would be his last. He also sold off his controlling stake in the Mavs. Was the tech entrepreneur and investor... slowing down?
The suggestion is offensive to him. He simply has a new obsession. In 2018, Cuban received an email that, to him, smelled like blood. A 33-year-old radiologist named Alex Oshmyansky was cold-pitching a pharmaceutical startup. He wanted to sell generic drugs for about as much as they cost to make or buy. Cuban was intrigued. He invested $250,000.
Within two years Cuban had invested so much that he owned the company. In January 2022 they began selling products as Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs. The name references, well, Mark Cuban, but also simple algebra: the base price of the drug, plus a 15 percent markup, plus a $5 pharmacy service fee, plus $5 in shipping. The company ships around 2,500 drugs, including ones for epilepsy, diabetes, and birth control, to consumers and pharmacies across the US.
This story is from the November - December 2024 edition of WIRED.
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This story is from the November - December 2024 edition of WIRED.
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