Mark Cuban didn’t have to wait long to splurge after his first big payday.
The now-billionaire bought a lifetime flight pass from American Airlines for six figures while drunk and celebrating his first big deal in 1990, Cuban explained to host Shannon Sharp. “Club She She” Podcast In an interview released last week.
When the “Shark Tank” star sold his first company, a software startup called MicroSolutions, to CompuServe for $6 million, the newly minted millionaire entrepreneur celebrated with friends.
“They say, ‘What do you think you’re going to do with all this money?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t care about cars or houses, but boy, you know, I fly a lot for work,’ she recalled Sharp saying.
Slurring his words, Cuban called American Airlines and drunkenly asked if they offered lifetime passes – they did.
“I got all the information, got super hungry and signed up. Initially, it was $125,000 and then I upgraded it. I forget how much I paid, but it got me almost unlimited miles for me and for anyone else for the rest of my life,” Cuban told the ESPN personality.
Cuba purchased the AAAAirpass, which launched in the early 1980s and gave passengers unlimited first class travel for the rest of their lives. At that time, the price was based on the buyer’s age at the time of purchase.
It was the 1990s and the entrepreneur was only 32 when he bought it so the price of the pass was $125,000, which is Estimated to be around $300,000 When adjusted for inflation.
Cuba reportedly transferred near to his father and after his father passed away, he transferred Aairpass to a friend.
Unfortunately, American Airlines no longer offers this unlimited pass.
The airline eventually discontinued this offer and began charging frequent business travelers a flat rate until recently,
American Airlines will stop accepting new AirPass memberships and renewals in 2022 and will close the program in March 2024. According to its website.
This unlimited flying pass was not the only extravagance committed by the businessman.
According to CNBC, in 1999, Cuban also bought a $40 million Gulfstream G5 jet worth $50 million over the Internet after selling his streaming platform Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in stock. That great deal is still listed Guinness World Records website As the “largest single e-commerce transaction”.
Despite his expensive record-setting purchase, Cuban told podcast listeners that he encourages people to live like a “college student” and save their money – especially athletes, because if they get injured the money can go away. Stops coming fast.
Cuba is still finding ways to stay connected to the land. In 2017, he said to money Even though he could be enjoying his fortune, he has still been living in the same house and driving the same cars for 18 years.
