Billionaire Mark Cuban paid a surprisingly tiny sum for his first car
- Mark Cuban lived very frugally before becoming rich
- He drove a Fiat X1/9 and a Buick LeSabre
- He didn’t pay more than $200 for a car until he was over 25
Published on Aug 22, 2024 at 6:16 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Aug 22, 2024 at 7:04 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Multibillionaire Mark Cuban drove around in a surprisingly low-key car back before he became rich.
The Shark Tank star, who was born in Pittsburgh, always had his eyes on the prize when it came to becoming an entrepreneur.
Even at a young age, he took on numerous ventures such as selling garbage bags and delivering newspapers during strikes.
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Mark Cuban lived as frugally as possible when he was young
As he and his wealth grew, Cuban refused to splurge and would instead live as frugally as possible.
“I did things like having five roommates and living off macaroni and cheese, I was very, very frugal,” Cuban told money.com in 2017.
While some billionaires like to flash their cash on high-end car collections, others do things a little differently – such as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who would get a new Porsche 911 every six months to avoid having to get license plates.
Meanwhile, Cuban was more than happy to drive around in a series of dirt-cheap motors in his younger years, with his mind set on longer-term gains.
He was happy to drive the ‘worst possible car’
“I had the worst possible car – those types of things,” he added.
And if you’re wondering what Cuban deems the ‘worst possible car,’ he went on to reveal he drove a Fiat X1/9, complete with a hole in the floorboard, and a 1996 Buick LeSabre – refusing to part with much cash for either vehicle.
In fact, the path to ending up with the Fiat is a pretty wild story in itself.
Cuban revealed that he had found it abandoned and trashed at the roadside, with loan papers scattered across the back seat.
Realizing it had been dumped, Cuban took one of the loan papers, contacted the bank, and offered to take over the payments.
The bank agreed to his somewhat unorthodox offer and he ended up getting the car for just a few hundred dollars.
Talk about thinking outside the box.
“I didn’t have a car that cost more than $200 until I was 25, I think,” he said.
“It was crazy, but that was my decision. I was determined to save money. I was determined to be able to retire.”
Fair enough.
Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.
