Mark Cuban Reveals He's Leaving 'Shark Tank' After Season 16

Mark Cuban – Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty

During an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast, Mark Cuban dropped the bombshell he’s leaving Shark Tank after Season 16.

One of the biggest family programs on television is ABC’s Shark Tank. The entrepreneurial show gives a raw look at the “American Dream” and showcases families chasing that dream in real time. Hopeful entrepreneurs enter the Tank hoping to leave with a deal to further their businesses.

Without a doubt, the most popular Shark is billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

A bombshell report from Forbes claimed Cuban is one of the only Sharks to regularly close his deals made on TV. With that being said, it’s a no-brainer why he’s the most popular aside from being the coolest.

Unfortunately, Cuban feels his time with the show has reached an end and will allegedly depart after Season 16 in 2025 according to Deadline. He made the shocking revelation alongside Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson as a guest on their podcast, All The Smoke.

“It’s time,” said Cuban, who first appeared on Shark Tank in Season 2 as a guest before his full-time gig.

“I love it because it sends the message the American dream is alive and well,” Cuban told Barnes and Jackson. “I feel like in doing Shark Tank all these years, we’ve trained multiple generations of entrepreneurs that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento or wherever, and show up on the carpet of Shark Tank and show their business and get a deal, it’s going to inspire generations of kids. That’s what happens, right? Now we’ve got people coming on saying I watched you when I was 10 years old. I’m like, f*ck. But we’re helping them right? I’ve invested in, I don’t know how many hundreds of companies. On a cash basis, I’m down a little bit, but on mark to market meeting, the companies are still in operation. I’m way up.”‘

Elsewhere in the podcast, the hosts asked Cuban what determines if he’s making a good investment or a bad one. Cuban’s response could not only apply to investments but any negotiation in life where you have the leverage.

“I just listen to them. You can just tell. Body language matters, the harder they have to try to sell, the worse the deal … when someone walks in Shark Tank, you can tell if they are trying too hard. I have this rule: the longer the back story, the worse the deal. The minute you start telling me how hard it was for you, it’s hard for every motherf*cking entrepreneur, tell me about your business, tell me why you are going to be successful.”

“I look for ideas like, damn, why didn’t I think of that,” Cuban continued.

Reportedly, ABC refused to confirm his departure from Shark Tank, which signals he may not intend to leave but is using the news as a negotiation tactic. However, Cuban has said for a while he is ready to move on from the show.

Furthermore, if he does leave ABC shouldn’t have too much trouble finding replacements on the hit TV show.

You can watch his episode of All The Smoke below.