Back when Mark Cuban was broke and sleeping on a beer-stained floor with five roommates, he probably didn't seem like the guy who'd one day own the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, sell his startup to Yahoo for $5.7 billion, and become a household name for telling people to stop drinking lattes. But in his eyes, that scrappy version of himself was already on the right track.
Cuban rolled into Dallas three weeks before his 24th birthday in a busted-up Fiat X1/9 leaking oil, rocking a hole in the floorboard, and carrying little more than a sleeping bag and a dream.
That was 1982. And while he wasn't rich, he wasn't afraid of starting from nothing. In fact, he said it helped. "I had nothing to lose," he told the Dallas Morning News in 2011. "It was all about going for it."
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So how'd he get rich? According to Cuban, it wasn't magic. It was sacrifice, discipline, and a whole lot of Mac & Cheese.
On his Blog Maverick site back in 2008, Cuban laid out exactly what he believed it takes to get rich. First: cut out the shortcuts. "There are no shortcuts. NONE," he wrote. He warned that if someone is offering you a "guaranteed" return, they're likely getting rich off you, not with you. "If a deal is a great deal, they aren't going to share it with you."
His advice? Start with the basics: "Save your money. Save as much money as you possibly can. Every penny you can."
Skip the coffee. Drink water. Skip the McDonald's. Eat Mac & Cheese. Cut up your credit cards, because if you're swiping to buy things you can't afford, he says you're not serious about wealth.
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"The first step to getting rich requires discipline," he wrote. "If you really want to be rich, you need to find the discipline, can you?" That's where most people fail, according to Cuban. But for those who find that discipline, he said the payoff starts immediately.
"The greatest rate of return you will earn is on your own personal spending." Cuban considers being a smart shopper the true "first step" to building wealth. And for those who stick with it? He recommends stacking cash in short-term savings — not stocks. "Buy and hold is a sucker's game for you," he wrote at the time, pointing out how those with no cash can't take advantage of opportunities when the market tanks.
Cash is king. And Cuban made it clear: you don't save to retire. You save so you can strike when the moment is right.
That moment, he said, often shows up during times of uncertainty. When industries go bust, that's when the future rich show up. Cuban's strategy? Know your business inside and out. He encourages people to get paid to learn—whether that's working in a field you love, even at the bottom rung, or reading everything there is to know about it in your off hours. "We aren't talking days. We aren't talking months. We are talking years. Lots of years and maybe decades," he said.
So yes, Cuban might enjoy being a billionaire—when asked by Business Insider in 2012 what the best part of it was, he said simply: "Everything." Worst part? "Nothing." But he's not pretending it just happened to him. It was built on sacrifices most people wouldn't make.
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He doesn't expect everyone to follow his path either. Not everyone's trying to be a billionaire, and not everyone wants to live off water and noodles. But even if you're not aiming for a private jet, his rules still apply. In that same BI interview, Cuban said he tells everyone—pro athletes included—to pay off all their debt and use cash wisely. If you can buy in bulk and save 40%, do it. "That's a guaranteed return of 40 percent. You can't get that anywhere in the market."
And when it comes to investing? Only do it if you understand what you're investing in. "Don't invest in things you don't know," he said.
For those looking to play it safer than the stock market, options today include investing in fractional real estate shares with as little as $100. Platforms like Arrived let people passively earn income from rental properties without being landlords. For others, Cuban's emphasis on "adding value" to any business they touch might make startup investing the better fit — but again, only if you know what you're doing.
Cuban never pretended there's a one-size-fits-all road to wealth. But he's pretty firm on the first steps: give things up, save every penny, and when the right moment comes? Be ready.
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