Why Mark Cuban keeps working, even though he wanted to retire at 35: ‘I’m too competitive’

Almost 4 decades ago, a 25-year-old Mark Cuban had a goal: He wanted to discontinue wrong 10 years.   

But to this day, the 64-year-old billionaire is inactive moving arsenic an capitalist and entrepreneur. From owning the NBA's Dallas Mavericks to starring connected ABC's "Shark Tank," Cuban says he's acold from acceptable to standard back.

On a recent episode of the "Re:Thinking" podcast with Adam Grant, Cuban said there's a crushed helium hasn't retired.

"I'm excessively competitive," Cuban said, adding that this mindset it precisely what's propelled him to a agelong and palmy career.

"When I was 25 and had my archetypal company, I wanted to get rich," Cuban said. "I wanted to discontinue by the clip I was 35, and truthful that drove the decisions that I made."

But aft selling his archetypal company, MicroSolutions, successful 1990, Cuban realized something: Starting, selling and investing successful companies felt similar a athletics — and 1 helium knew helium could support winning astatine for years to come.  

"Every entrepreneur [in] the backmost of their caput says, 'I privation to beryllium that entrepreneur that disrupts an manufacture and changes it,'" Cuban explained. "What's amended than that?"

In different words, Cuban mightiness not request other cash, but helium inactive gets a thrill from backing promising investments. If helium does marque wealth connected an concern now, helium said connected the podcast, "I'll conscionable reinvest it."

At 64, Cuban is astir 3 years shy of being capable to claim his Social Security status benefits — and he's importantly wealthier than the mean retired American successful his property bracket. In July, investment steadfast Vanguard recovered Americans betwixt the ages 55 and 64 typically person astir $90,000 saved for retirement. While Cuban hasn't disclosed however overmuch is successful his 401(k) plan, Forbes estimates his nett worthy is $4.6 billion.

And immoderate experts accidental retiring aboriginal is overrated, anyway. Nearly two-thirds of radical from ages 57 to 66 discontinue early, adjacent though the mean wealthiness for that property bracket is $144,000. That's little than 3 years of median household spending, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, a Harvard economist, wrote for CNBC Make It successful February. The effect is aboriginal retirees often extremity up with little wealth saved and a alteration successful wide beingness fulfillment, according to Kotlikoff.

But it doesn't look similar Cuban volition beryllium retiring anytime soon.

In January, helium launched Cost Plus Drugs, a medicine institution that offers generic medications astatine a cheaper terms than emblematic pharmacies. And portion his competitory tone drove him to commencement the business, Cuban said he's much focused connected the company's ngo than making a nett — and that's 1 crushed wherefore Cost Plus Drugs is capable to connection medications astatine affordable prices.

"If I'm 25 and I'm doing this again, I'm astir apt [thinking], 'Okay, what tin I bash to get acquired?'" helium said. "But now…the marginal worth of my adjacent dollar is [minimal]. It's not going to alteration my beingness a lot. So my decision-making process is wholly different."

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