Mark Cuban

Owner, Dallas Mavericks

Described by many as an average guy, Mark Cuban is anything but average. The full-of-life, animated sports and business tycoon has made his presence known at sporting events, in the board room and all things digital.

A serial entrepreneur, Cuban is best known as the owner and vocal spectator of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He's also the King Midas of the business world where nearly everything he's touched — in some way or another — has turned to gold.

Just don't call him an innovator. "Most people think it's all about the idea. It's not," Cuban says. "Everyone has ideas. The hard part is doing the homework to know if the idea could work in an industry, then doing the preparation to be able to execute on the idea. Otherwise, someone who knows more and works harder will kick your ass."

Cuban has been working hard his entire life. As a teenager, he dabbled in business selling garbage bags door-to-door. He then paid his way through Indiana University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in business, by giving disco lessons and starting a chain letter. "I gave disco lessons to sorority houses for $25 an hour. Back then, that was, still is, a lot of money," he says. "And then, I paid for school with a chain letter and I would wake up in the morning, go to my mailbox and there would be checks there. And that's how I paid for my junior year," says Cuban.

Two years after completing his degree, the Mount Lebanon, Pa., native moved to Dallas and landed a job selling personal computers. It didn't matter that he didn't know a thing about them because Cuban spent his nights teaching himself by reading the manuals. After convincing a customer to loan him $500, he launched Micro Solutions, a reseller of local-area network and connectivity products.

By early 1990 the business was grossing $30 million a year and had 85 employees. Cuban, however, decided to sell Micro Solutions to Ohio-based CompuServe and retire. "I ended up making about $2.2 million. I bought a lifetime pass on American Airlines and I just started traveling," he says.

Retirement lasted five years when Cuban and Indiana alum Todd Wagner had an idea to stream college games via the Internet so they could listen to Indiana basketball. The duo started Audionet in 1995 with a single server and ISDN line. Broadcast.com cured the homesick fan, according to Cuban.

Audionet soon became the very popular Broadcast.com. In three years, the company had 300-plus employees and made stock market history when it went public. Broadcast.com's IPO was, at that time, the largest one-day rise of a new offering in the history of the market. It opened at $18 a share and closed at $62.75 — a 250 percent gain. One year later, he and Wagner agreed to sell the company to Yahoo! for a smooth $5.6 billion. Cuban walked away with $1.3 billion.

By now, Cuban had more than enough to retire but another idea was percolating. For those who relish the HD experience — thank Cuban, because without him, we might still be watching our HD-ready television sets via an analog signal. In 2001, Cuban founded television network HDNet with business partner Philip Garvin. Like Broadcast.com, he found an area of personal interest and pursued it with grit and determination. Six years later, HDNet produces and broadcasts more HDTV programming than any other network.

Retirement is a novel idea from the past for the now 49-year-old entrepreneur. He continues investing in other businesses and he's also a well-read blogger, writing about subjects he thinks are important — from scandalous referees, to the stock market to the Mark Cuban bobblehead-like dancing doll, which shouts expletives and other comments when you press its hand.

"The folks at the Mavs put the bobblehead together so we all could have some fun at my expense," Cuban says. "They laughed a lot. I laughed. My wife laughed. My 3-year-old laughed."

Perhaps that's what makes this average billionaire so extraordinary: a no-nonsense work ethic coupled with a healthy dose of absurdity. "Over the last 20 years, I've always been about what's new, what's next and how am I getting there first," he says. "It's a sprint and I have to keep on running 150 miles per hour. It's an adventure."