Mark Cuban tells parents how to make their kids successful

• Cuban recently retired from "Shark Tank."
• He also sold his controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks.
• The billionaire believes that an emerging technology will help create a new generation of billionaires.

Mark Cuban comes off as a regular guy who hustled his way to extreme wealth when you watch him on "Shark Tank."

His fellow sharks, however, needed some time to warm up to him.

“Mark is larger than life in all things, in airplanes, and his demeanor…everything. I think it was just such a different character for me, and I didn’t know how to handle it at first,” fellow "Shark Tank" host Robert Herjavec told The Sun.

When he left the show this year, however, the other Sharks were glowing in their tributes.

“Mark, having you leave is really like having a big brother leave the house,” Barbara Corcoran said during his final episode.

Lori Grenier was equally as warm in her farewell to Cuban, who chose to leave the show after 14 years.

“You're a warrior, you're a humanitarian, you're just an all-around great, great person. And I admire and respect you and love you,” she said.

Cuban, who played the role of "regular guy investor" on the show, where the "Sharks" invested their own money in companies that pitched them, explained how he saw himself on the program.

“I think I just brought a little bit of an edge, where I tried to make it not so much about an academic investment show, but more a show that is about people trying to reach their goals, trying to have their dreams come true,” he shared. “I've been in their shoes. I've been broke, I've been sleeping on the floor. I can put myself in the shoes of pretty much anybody who's standing on the carpet.”

Now, in his post "Shark Tank" life, Cuban has some advice for parents and kids looking to follow in his footsteps.

Cuban shares advice for kids and parents

Cuban recently shared advice on the new skill he believes younger people should be developing to short cut their road to success.

“Students who use AI will produce better, more creative work and gain a collaborative relationship with technology that’s needed in the future workplace,” Cuban told CNBC Make It, adding: “Students who use AI will be best equipped to lead.”

He does not see artificial intelligence (AI) as a crutch or cheat, but as a useful tool that will helps kids get ahead.

“Students using AI effectively know how to ask the right questions,” because they have been given the opportunities to spend time getting comfortable using the technology, according to the billionaire. “They use strong inputs and apply critical thinking to evaluate results. AI helps students think bigger, but it doesn’t make decisions,” he said.

Cuban believes that AI will change how people make money.

’We haven’t seen the best, or the craziest, of what [AI] is going to be able to do,” he told CNBC. “Not only do I think it’ll create a trillionaire, but it could be just one dude in the basement. That’s how crazy it could be.”

Another Shark has a different take on AI

Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary believes that AI could be used to change how movies and television shows are shot. O'Leary appeared in the movie "Marty Supreme" and was surprised at how the film was made.

“Almost every scene had as many as 150 extras. Now, those people have to stay awake for 18 hours, be completely dressed in the background. Not necessarily in the movie, but they’re necessary to be there moving around. And yet, it costs millions of dollars to do that,” O’Leary said, according to Vulture. “Why couldn’t you simply put AI agents in their place? Because they’re not the main actors. They’re only in the story visually.”

The "Shark Tank" billionaire believes that union rules should be changed to allow for more AI in films and television.

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“I’d argue, for the sake of the art, you should allow AI in certain cases. An extra is a really good case, because you can’t tell the difference,” he said. “You just put 100 Norwell Tillies in there and you’re good,” he shared.

(O’Leary was referring to Tilly Norwood, the AI actress that has been decried by SAG-AFTRA).

How Mark Cuban became a billionaire

• Early hustle: Sold garbage bags door-to-door at 12.
• MicroSolutions (1983–1990): Founded computer consulting firm; sold to CompuServe for $6million, netting about $2million.
• Broadcast.com (1995–1999): Co-founded streaming startup; sold to Yahoo for $5.7B in stock, earning about $1.4B.
• Smart move: Hedged Yahoo! stock before the dot-com crash, preserving his fortune.
• Dallas Mavericks (2000): Bought team for $285 million; turned it into a $4 billion franchise.
• Investments & media: Created HDNet (AXS TV), joined “Shark Tank”, and invested in startups and crypto.
• Current focus: Co-founder of Cost Plus Drugs to lower prescription costs.
• Net worth (2025): About $6–7 billion.