Mark Cuban!
-What's up, Trevor? -What's going on?
-Welcome to The Daily Show. -Thanks for having me.
Good to have you here in person. First thing I want to know,
because I see the clips all the time--
-everyone watches the show all over the world... -Yep.
...how many people come up to you
and-and just pitch you things in real life,
like, all the time?
It must be your life now.
-Everywhere. In the bathroom. -Everywhere you go.
Sitting in a urinal. You name it-- I get pitched everywhere.
Wait, what's the best pitch you got at a urinal?
-Do you remember it? -(laughs) Turn around.
(laughing)
-Congratulations. Season 14 of the show. -Yes.
I’d love to know, when you started this,
did you think it was gonna be as big as it is?
-No. No. -Is this a business that you saw coming?
They asked me to come on as a guest in the second season.
And it would bounce around.
Like, when Desperate Housewives--
-remember that show?-- when it wasn't on... -Yes, of course.
-Yeah. Yeah, yeah. -...we'd take its place.
And I thought, "This thing is dead.
So I'm just gonna go on there, raise hell."
Next thing you know, we're in season 14.
Season 14. It's successful.
It's-it's fun. People love the show.
-It's syndicated around the world. -Yeah.
I would love to know what you think makes it so successful.
Why do we all love watching people come on
and then try and pitch you an idea that you either trash
or invest in or completely try and take over?
Because everybody wants to be that person
who can just have an idea in their garage,
-in their bedroom. -Mm-hmm.
You know, we all get it, right?
You get that feeling in your stomach
and you're all fired up and you check it with your friends.
But these are people who made it in front of us.
And if we say yes, they go from being just a business
to being that guy, that business.
And that-that's why.
-Anybody can be that person. -Yeah.
You-- I feel like you were that person.
-I was. -You know? (stammers)
You know, I've-I've read about you,
and there were parts in your life where you thought
you were gonna retire at 35.
And let-- yet here you are, many decades later, still...
-(laughter) -You look like you love--
-No, that's not a diss! It is many decades later. -(laughs)
-Yeah! Thanks a lot, right? -No. Come on.
This is true. You-You're living,
-but it-it feels like you... -(laughs): I'm living!
-(laughing) -No, not-- You g--
They're assholes. Don't listen to them.
-(blows raspberry) -These people are assholes.
What I'm saying is
you-you're having a great time
and it feels like you haven't lost that drive.
-No. -Like, what makes you get out of bed every single day
if it's not the money?
Uh, I'm competitive. I like to kick ass.
-Okay. -If you start a business and you're in my business,
I'm gonna (bleep) you up.
(laughs)
Serious, for real. I mean, I-I love to compete.
-Right, that explains a lot. -It does.
That explains-that explains, like, the Dallas Mavericks.
You know, I was talking to someone who works on the show,
and he said an interesting thing.
He said, he said, uh, Mark Cuban seems to me
like one of the only superfans who took over a team.
'Cause some people buy teams
-because they have the money to buy a team. -Yeah.
You seem like you-you bought a team
-because you love the team, you love the sport. -Yeah.
Everyone said the team changed because of you.
Many people have credited you in the NBA
of being part of changing the culture
of trying to make it so that even the people
who work behind the scenes are happy
and are-and are enjoying themselves.
Like, why did you decide that?
You could've just gone in for a team, but you bought a team.
No, I love basketball.
Like, I'll get out there and I'll shoot with the guys.
I mean, just think about it.
You love to play basketball.
I get to walk into my own arena, get up shots.
You know, and the best part is, you know, game-winning shot,
the crowd's going nuts, everybody's piledriving
and jumping on the guy.
I get to jump on him, too, and I don't...
I don't get you arrested, right?
Anybody else-- you all run there, I'll arrest your ass.
I will run out there, I have fun.
The NBA has been, you know, in an interesting period
where, you know, for a long time politics...
I mean, it was everything, NBA and NFL.
And then, you know, the NBA was seen as this place
-where, you know, players were speaking their mind. -Mm-hmm.
It was a really aware organization.
Adam Silver gets a lot of credit, for instance,
many of the owners do as well.
Recently though there's been a scandal
that has rocked the Phoenix Suns.
And, you know, everyone's been talking about how to deal with
an owner where he's been accused of everything
from racism to inappropriate messages at work.
And I think the fine came down at $10 million and a year.
Some have said it isn't enough, some have said it's just enough.
-What do you make of that? -(sighs)
And more than the fine, 'cause, I mean, that's not your job,
but what do you think the-the position
of an owner in a team needs to be
in terms of how it's outward facing?
Like, why is it important to be a certain way as the owner?
You know, rather than talking about that situation
specifically, I can tell you what I think, right.
I may be responsible for writing the checks
-for the Dallas Mavericks, -Mm-hmm.
but all of North Texas really owns the Dallas Mavericks.
It's the only business where I get emails from people saying,
"My son has cancer," you know.
"Can you bring some players out?
Can we...? Will you visit?"
You know, "My son just died" or "My daughter just died."
"Can we bury him in a Luka Doncic jersey?"
You know, there-there's no other industry.
You know, and when you win...
When Google has a great quarter, nobody in their city--
-you know, Mount wherever it is-- celebrates. -Right.
When your team wins a championship,
the whole city goes nuts.
-You feel it. -The whole city's on fire, right?
It's just such a different industry,
and with that comes a responsibility.
You have to have-- you have to, you know, lead.
You have to be able to set examples
for diversity and inclusion
and show people that, you know, this is the real world,
and we can change and we can be part of it and make it better,
and, you know, I think that's the responsibility
that comes with owning a sports team.
It's probably why you've been so successful, it really is.
-(applause) -You're also...
You know, you're also behind-- I-I remember reading this and...
you know, we live in a world where billionaires tweet
all kinds of crazy things all the time.
-I won't mention names, but... -(laughs)
...billionaires will tweet whatever
and then they'll say, "Oh, I will change the world,
I'll do this, or..."
I remember seeing a tweet of yours
where you were basically talking
about upending the drug industry...
-Yep. -and, uh, lowering prescription drug prices,
and I was like, "Ah, here we go again.
Hopes up, and nothing's going to happen."
-But you actually did it. -We're doing it, we're the real deal.
Yeah, we started a company called CostPlusDrugs.com,
and if you take any medication at all,
just go there, put in the name of it,
and what we do that's different, every other drug manufacturer...
-I mean, no one trusts the drug industry at all, right? -Right.
And so, what we said was, you know,
"Sunlight is the best disinfectant,"
so if you go and you put in the drug and if we carry it,
um, it'll show you not only what we sell it for.
-It'll show you our cost and... -Like, actual cost?
Our actual cost-- what we really pay for it.
We mark it up 15%, that's it.
We have a three-dollar pharmacy fee
and five dollars for shipping, that's it.
And so, you know exactly what we paid
and so, you can trust it.
And this is the first time in the pharmacy industry where,
when you're buying a medication,
you can trust that you're paying a fair price.
-So you're making money? -Not yet. (laughs)
Not yet, but we will. We will eventually.
Okay, but you think the business will make money?
Yeah, we'll make money, but...
-So then, help me understand this then... -Uh-huh.
...as somebody who isn't a billionaire.
How is it that you've decided to get into a business
where you won't make money now,
-you will make money in the future... -Mm-hmm.
...and you're still able to provide people with the drugs
and it seems like it's a win-win for everyone?
Then why don't other drug companies just do this? Why...?
Because what has happened is all...
When someone like me has started, or anybody has started
a company like this, and they cut the cost of medications,
what happens is, someone buys them, right?
One of the big companies buys them out and puts them away.
-Buys the company. Got it. -Buys that company
so that takes them off the market.
I can't be bought, right? I don't need... You can't...
I don't... My next dollar is not going to change my life.
But if I get a chance
to (bleep) up the pharmaceutical industry...
-(applause and cheering) -You are competitive.
Yeah, I mean, the drugs, like...
I just had a friend, literally two days ago, a guy
that I knew in college, Landon Turner.
He was taking this drug dera-cot?
-I don't even know how it's pronounced. -Mm-hmm.
He's like, "Mark, it costs me $3,000 a month.
I can't afford it? Can you help?"
And it was literally... It's a generic.
So I had our guys go into it.
Not five minutes ago while I was waiting in the green room,
he came back. Landon was paying $3,000 a month.
It's now gonna cost him $63 a month.
-(gasping, applause, cheering) -Wait. Wait. I was wrong.
-Wait, wait. -Wait. No. I was wrong.
-$63 for three months. -(gasping)
-Three months. -(applause)
-So, okay. -That's how crazy this industry is.
Yeah, but I... So, I get that you can't be bought,
but surely, people are not happy with what you're doing.
Like, it doesn't seem like you are good for business.
Well, it's weird. No, it's weird. So...
'Cause people like Martin Shkreli-- sorry to cut you off--
but people like Martin Shkreli became famous for coming in,
-buying a drug that people need to survive... -Yeah.
and then hiking it up by I don't know how many...
thousand percent, or whatever it was.
But it feels like
-you're gonna make a lot of enemies doing this. -Yeah.
And, as you say, you're competitive,
so you don't really care.
But is there no way they can undercut you?
-Is there no way this could...? -Yeah, there's ways.
I mean, there's ways, right, but they're...
It ain't going to happen, right? So, what...
The way it works now-- there's three big companies
that are insurance companies that own these things
called pharmacy benefit managers who are responsible
-for really distorting the prices. -Okay.
And then they also own the big retail pharmacies.
-All the big names you've heard of. -Uh-huh.
And so, they're able to control all the pricing elements.
We work outside of that. So right now,
we're mail order so if you go to costplusdrugs.com,
like, Landon will be able to buy his drug
for all that less money,
and then we'll ship it to him, we'll mail it to him.
Soon, we'll be able to do it at local independent pharmacies,
but because we work outside of that system,
they can't stop us.
And the cooler part about it is, we all look at manufacturers
of insulin and other drugs and say,
"They're the cause of the problem."
They're really not. It's these big three companies
that are distorting their prices,
and the manufacturers don't have any other way to sell it.
So now, we can sell it for them. And so, you know,
we're not there on insulin yet, but we're working on it.
We're not there on some of the big brand names,
-but we're close. -Mm-hmm.
And so, you know, we, literally, literally, Trevor...
I mean, five years from now, we can look back and say,
-"You (bleep) them up." -(applause and cheering)
And that would be like a dream of...
That's my goal.
You know, you-you--
I think-I think one of the reasons you're so popular
and interesting is because you have a different view
on how to be successful and what success means, you know?
Um, those who are familiar with your stories will know that
when you-when you sold your first company, you made a lot
of money, but you also made many of your employees millionaires.
-Yeah. -And they weren't, like, stockhold-- they didn't
have options that-- You just said, "All right, everybody,
I made money, we all make money."
And then you did it again with your next company.
That was, like, a big sale, and did you it again,
and you have this attitude that seems counter
to what many Americans think these days where they say,
-"If I get rich, I get rich, screw all of you." -No.
And everyone who's been in your path--
everyone who's gone along with you-- can go,
"Oh yeah, I worked with Mark Cuban, and you can see
that we made money." In this instance,
let's say you are successful.
This company could go on to become, you know, very rich,
-it could-it could make a lot of money. -Mm-hmm.
How do we know-- and-and I'm assuming
you're that kind of person, but how do we know that then,
at some point, you won't raise those drug prices
when everyone is on Cost Plus?
Like, can you make a promise the people? Can you say,
-"This is what we're--" -I, Mark Cuban... (laughs)
...promise not-- Seriously, I-- That's the whole goal,
that's the mission. I'm not--
-Because I get asked that all the time. -Yeah.
"He's just, you know, 'low prices now, jack 'em up later.'"
Uh, if anything, we've been lowering prices.
If you follow us at Cost Plus Drugs on Twitter,
I take pride in every couple of weeks,
we're cutting prices, we're not-we're not increasing prices.
I mean, in this day and age--
and you talk about this all the time--
it's just insane that somebody has to choose
-between rent, food and medication. -Right.
And, you know, people think capitalism is just about
"how much money can I make?" It's not.
Capitalism is me being able to start a business
and choose the outcomes that I want.
No one else can tell me what my mission is,
no one else can tell me what my goal is,
no one else can tell me what's important to me.
I get to make that choice. For some people--
look, if I'm 25 years old,
it's making as much money as I can, right?
But now, like I've been saying,
if you get a chance to turn around an industry
where people now don't have to make those choices--
that's the best reward of all time.
-I wish you the best. -I'll take it.
-I'm gonna hold you to your word. -Oh, it's a deal.
-I know where to find you. -Right, I'm easy to find.
I know exactly where are you in Dallas.
Mark Cuban, everybody.