Mark Cuban Tells Billionaires: It’s Patriotic for You to Pay Huge Taxes

Mark Cuban believes billionaires are a product of boundless opportunity, and people should take pride in creating wealth because the money ultimately flows back into society.

Cuban, who became a billionaire by selling his internet-radio startup to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999, argued that billion-dollar fortunes showcase the immense success people can achieve in countries like the U.S. I Photo: TechCrunch

Therefore, he says, it is patriotic for the ultra-rich to pay significant taxes, Theron Mohamed reported for Business Insider.

During an interview for a new Netflix series titled "What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates," Cuban emphasized that there are relatively few billionaires in the world.

"You can say, 'Yeah, having a billion dollars, that's kinda crazy,' but you also have to realize that that's not the problem. That's a symptom of something amazing. It's the American dream. That's what makes America special," said the Shark Tank star.

Cuban, who became a billionaire by selling his internet-radio startup to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999, argued that billion-dollar fortunes showcase the immense success people can achieve in countries like the U.S.

The Dallas Mavericks minority owner added, "One of the most patriotic things that you can do as an American is go out and get filthy, stinkin' rich, create a ton of jobs, invest in your company and others, and then pay your taxes. When I write that check to the IRS for all those hundreds of millions of dollars, it's not that I like it, but I am proud of it because, you know, the roads, the military, the police, teachers, Medicaid, Medicare—that's a big part of where our taxpayer dollars go, and I feel like I've given something back."