Entrepreneur, NBA owner, and Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban told Cheddar on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic could signal a shift in the U.S. economy toward workers in what he dubbed "America 2.0."

"You've really got to put your workers first," he said. "We've always talked about trickle-down economics. Now we've got to look at trickle-up economics."

Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, has already gotten attention for keeping on his hourly employees even after the NBA suspended the regular season due to coronavirus

"Nothing is going to happen unless workers feel confident when they go to work that they're going to be safe," he said. 

How companies treat their employees, stakeholders, and customers during this crisis is going to "define your brand for a long time to come," he added. 

The entrepreneur also didn't get ahead of himself in predicting an end to the business shutdown that has hobbled large cross-sections of the economy. 

"I'm not going to tell my employees to go back to work or go out into the markets until they're safe," Cuban said. "I just couldn't in good conscience do that."

He echoed this sentiment in talking about the return of sports, as all the major leagues have been put on hold. 

"While we need sports, while we need something to cheer for, while we want something to get behind and get excited about, we can't risk people's lives," he said. 

Cuban also criticized the execution of the current government stimulus aid, which he stated has so far failed to facilitate lending to small businesses. 

"Hopefully within the next five to seven days, the banks will start being able to loan money to the millions of small businesses that need it," he said.

Share:
More In Business
Klarna shares jump 30% on Wall Street debut
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its highly anticipated public debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, the latest in a run of high-profile initial public offerings this year. The offering priced at $40 Tuesday, above the forecasted range of $35 to $37 a share, valuing the company at more than $15 billion. The valuation easily makes Klarna one of the biggest IPOs so far in 2025, which has been one of the busier years for companies going public. Other popular IPOs so far this year include the design software company Figma and Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin..
Musk loses crown as world’s richest to software giant Larry Ellison
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading. That is according to wealth tracker Bloomberg. A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years. The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle. Forbes still has Musk as the richest, however, valuing his private businesses much higher.
Load More