Myths and misconceptions abound about U.S. billionaires. On paper, it seems that people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and, to a lesser degree, Mark Cuban, with a net worth of almost $9 billion, have money to solve all the world’s wealth distribution, hunger and homelessness issues in a heartbeat. But that’s not necessarily true.
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Billionaire Mark Cuban broke it down in a Bluesky thread, emphasizing, “This is not sympathy.” In an objective way, he shared exactly how billionaire wealth works, because, he wrote, “If you are going to eat us all, at least understand that whatever you think will be available to cure society’s ills, it won’t be a fraction of what you expect.”
Also see six things Mark Cuban wants you to stop doing with your money.
Net Worth Is Very Different From Cash in the Bank
Cuban is a self-made billionaire who launched a software company at age 24 and later sold it to CompuServe for $6 million, according to CNBC. “When I was broke and sleeping on floors, I really couldn’t conceptualize what that much money really was. It was inconceivable to me,” Cuban said on Bluesky.
However, he went on to point out that net worth can be very different from cash in the bank. “When someone is a billionaire, they rarely have their networth [sic] in cash. And I think that is what people misunderstand even about musk, bezos, Zuckerberg [sic] and those of us with far less, relatively speaking. Almost all of them have their wealth in the stock of companies they started and continue to own,” he said.
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Millions in Taxes
Liquidating those investments often means paying significant taxes. “I think Elon sold about 40b [sic] in stock,” Cuban wrote. “At least 30 pct [sic] of that went to taxes.”
Cuban added that he paid $11 million in taxes to the state of California when he sold the Dallas Mavericks. “I don’t live in California,” he wrote. “But the Mavs played games there.”
Stock Market Uncertainty
In addition to potential taxes that may keep billionaires’ investments tied up, much of their wealth is directly connected to stock market fluctuations. A glimpse at the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows changes in the wealth of the country’s top five billionaires ranging from negative $1.13 billion (Larry Page) to negative $18.5 billion (Larry Ellison).
Cuban explained that if the stock market cratered and Tesla stock dropped 90%, Musk’s wealth would take a hit. While he wouldn’t be poor, he’d likely “have to pay back every loan he has ever taken against his stock,” Cuban said.
‘We Were Just the Lucky Ones’
Cuban closed the thread with a statement that seemed to separate himself from those in the upper echelon of billionaires. (As of September 2025, Cuban is ranked No. 397 on Bloomberg’s top 500 list.)
“There are quite a few wealthy people at my level who are doing all they can to help others,” he wrote. “We realize we are blessed, don’t take what we have for granted and don’t and haven’t exploited people. We were just the lucky ones.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Mark Cuban: This Is the Biggest Thing People Don’t Understand About Billionaires
