"Mustang, Texas" - When Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban bought a whole town

Mark Cuban, the Shark Tank investor, once had a crazy deal and bought an entire town in Texas. Appearing for an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show a few years back, he revealed the reasoning behind the same.

The decision came from a point of friendship and compassion. The investor is known for his bold business ventures as well as new tech ideas. However, this purchase is considered one of the most humorously unusual ones.

It all happened when a friend of Mark fell ill and was diagnosed with cancer. The Shark Tank investor says that he needed money but his only asset at the time was the town in Texas.

Thus, to help him out, he decided to buy out the entire land so that the friend could be medically treated. This act reveals a lesser-known side to the investor where he is committed to helping those who are close to him.

For Cuban, it was not just a business transaction but a personal gesture to support a friend going through a difficult time. Explaining the same, Mark said,

"One of my buddies that I played pick-up basketball with got cancer and was close to dying, and his only real asset was this town, Mustang, Texas," Cuban shared. "And I'm like, 'Well, I can help Marty, and I could buy this town.' So I bought the town!"

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Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban reveals the heartfelt reason behind the Texas town purchase

Mustang, the town that Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban bought, is located in Navarro County in Texas. It spans across 77 acres. Even though it is considered smaller than other towns, there were responsibilities to be handled. Mark was thus asked about his role as the town owner. Humorously replying to the question, Mark said,

"I made one of my buddies the mayor, which basically means he's responsible for cleaning the trash and keeping it clean. That's the job of the mayor of Mustang, Texas."

This purchase sparked curiosity in the interviewer about Mark and if he is going to take any official titles or maybe even be a sheriff of the town. However, the Shark Tank investor denied any notions of him running the town himself.

Then he talked about his vision for the place and what he expects to do with it. Even though he had bought it for personal reasons, Mark is not ruling out the possibility of transforming the town. He talked about a creative change in the town that is inspired by an investment that he made on Shark Tank.

He had offered a deal to a company called Dino Don that makes artificial but huge dinosaurs that look real. He wishes to change the theme of the town and have these dinosaurs all around the place. It could change the town's identity and become a unique attraction boosting local tourism.

"There's a guy on 'Shark Tank', Dino Don, and he makes the animatronic dinosaurs—like if you go to zoos and everything and you see these huge animatronic dinosaurs that look and sound real," Cuban explained. "We haven't worked it through yet, but there's a chance we might change Mustang, Texas to Dinosaur, Texas."

This isn't the only unusual purchase that Mark Cuban, the Shark Tank investor, has made in his career. Revealing in another video, he talked about how he bought the ownership of the Dallas Mavericks for 285 million dollars in the year 2000. It was when he had sold his company Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes are released every week on ABC at 8 PM ET on Fridays. They are later available to watch on Hulu.