DALLAS — Former Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban says he would buy both Fox News and X, formerly known as Twitter, if he could.
In a wide-ranging interview with Wired's Lauren Goode, Cuban expressed interest in ownership of both media properties, despite not having the cash on hand to realistically pursue either.
"If I had enough money to do it, which I don't, I'd buy it in a heartbeat," Cuban said of Fox News.
Cuban told Goode in their interview that such a move would serve as an antidote to the "Fox News generation," which he coined the baby boomers in a 2020 New York Times interview. Cuban previously called the generation – one in which he falls into – "a disappointment." So when Goode brought this back up in their conversation, thus came the thoughts what he deemed the antidote: buying the network.
Cuban and Goode quickly discussed the economics of what buying Fox News would look like, which they deemed to be upwards of $15 billion to $20 billion. Cuban said he simply does not have that kind of cash "sitting around." His net worth, according to Forbes, is listed at $5.7 billion.
The conversation then quickly pivoted to buying X – which is also unlikely given its projected price tag and also who Cuban would need to buy it from. Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion then rebranded the platform as X.
"[Musk] wouldn’t sell it," Cuban said, frankly.
"What if you convinced him it was his idea?" Goode asked.
"I wouldn’t know how to do that," Cuban responded.
In another follow-up, Goode asked Cuban if he would consider buying X "in a perfect world."
"Yeah, for sure, Cuban said. "I wish I could. There’s no reason for him to sell it."
Cuban and Musk have digitally jousted on the platform on numerous occasions, making it an even unlikelier business pairing. The two have debated on issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion, among other things, even as recent as this week.
To read Cuban's full interview with Wired, click here.
In a response on X, Musk tweeted a photo of Cuban's Forbes profile with the caption, "Sorry Mark your card got declined I bought X for $44B. You're 39 Billion dollars short."
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