Mark Cuban reveals that he is set to leave ABC‘s Shark Tank after Season 16.
He initially appeared as a guest on Shark Tank during Season 2 before transitioning to a regular shark the subsequent year. In a recent interview with Showtime podcast All The Smoke with hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Cuban revealed that Season 16 will mark his final season on the reality show created by Mark Burnett. The current season on air is the 15th season of Shark Tank.
“I love [the show] because it sends the message the American dream is alive and well,” said Cuban. “I feel like in doing Shark Tank all these years, we’ve trained multiple generations of entrepreneurs that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento or wherever, and show up on the carpet of Shark Tank and show their business and get a deal, it’s going to inspire generations of kids. That’s what happens, right? Now we’ve got people coming on saying I watched you when I was 10 years old. I’m like, f—. But we’re helping them right? I’ve invested in, I don’t know how many hundreds of companies. On a cash basis, I’m down a little bit, but on a mark to market meeting, the companies are still in operation. I’m way up.”
The hosts also questioned Cuban about his investment criteria. “I just listen to them. You can just tell. Body language matters. The harder they have to try to sell, the worse the deal… when someone walks in Shark Tank, you can tell if they are trying too hard. I have this rule: The longer the back story, the worse the deal. The minute you start telling me how hard it was for you, it’s hard for every entrepreneur.”
Alongside Cuban, the Season 15 panel of sharks features Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, and Lori Greiner. Guest sharks, including Candace Nelson, Michael Rubin, and Jason Blum, have also made appearances.
