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.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
