If you had a hundred million or so to spare,
what would you spend it on? Some people may enjoy a garage filled with sportscars from every decade.
Others, like billionaire Mark Cuban, prefer to fill a hangar or two instead.
The American billionaire is widely known to the public as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
He has also reached fame through his participation in the business reality tv series Shark Tank.
When he is not overseeing his NBA team, producing movies, or investing in crypto startups,
Cuban is quite the collector of private jets. In fact, Cuban has no less than three.
One aircraft is an all business-configured Boeing 767-200. The second, a 757 outfitted
for a world-class sports team, and the third- a Gulfstream G550 business jet.
Cuban bought the G550 in 1999, just after he made his first billion from selling his
second company, Broadcast.com, to Yahoo. The purchase placed Cuban in the Guinness
Book of World Records. When spending $40 million on the jet online, he earned the accomplishment of
‘largest single e-commerce transaction’. He still holds the record to this day.
Clicking buy just isn’t the same for everyone. In an interview with Business Jet Traveler,
Cuban said that he had e-mailed Gulfstream after researching the company’s website.
They arranged to set up a demo flight for his pilot, who subsequently raved about it,
sealing the deal without Cuban ever setting foot in his new investment.
In another interview Cuban said the jet was the smartest thing he had ever spent money on
as it allowed him to spend more time with loved ones.
As for the Boeing 757, it was acquired for $36 million to transport his NBA team,
the Dallas Mavericks. While refusing to offer details on how the plane is outfitted,
Cuban says he came up with the strategic vision for the plane, specifically focusing on providing
space for players taller than seven feet. The 28-year-old aircraft also has a weight room,
special meeting set-ups, and space for medical treatments, as well as coaching and connectivity
resources. While there is no footage of the interior of the aircraft, it sounds
reminiscent of the concept developed by NIKE and cabin designer Teague, specifically catering to
professional athletes and sports teams. The Mavericks’ 757-200 registered
November-8-0-1-DeltaMike will typically fly 600 hours per year. When the NBA season is over,
Cuban charters the jet to larger groups requiring high-end seating.
The by far most expensive jet in Cuban’s collection was, unsurprisingly, the 38-year-old
Boeing 767-200. Initially, Cuban bought the widebody to hire out for high-end charter.
It has a configuration of 98 business class seats. Meanwhile, it seems it has
also been recruited for Mavericks duty and is registered as November-7-6-7-MikeVictor.
Since February this year, the jet, usually operated by Atlas Air,
has been stored at Marana Pinal Airpark, Arizona.
Before that, it spent five months on the ground at Tampa International, Florida.
While there is no record to be found of Cuban selling the aircraft,
it seems to have changed ownership in April, from Cuban’s company MLW Aviation to Wyatt Aerospace.
The latter specializes in sourcing and providing aircraft parts – including buying and tearing down
aircraft. Chances are, Mark Cuban’s private jet collection is now down by one widebody jet.
If you had the choice of a private jet, what would it be? How would you outfit it
if there was no limit to what the cabin could look like? Leave a comment and let us know.