Mark Cuban, Mavericks to Pay Employees $35M in Bonuses After Selling Franchise
January 5, 2024
Dallas Mavericks employees will receive a total of $35 million in bonuses after billionaire Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in the franchise.
Cuban shared the news with Mavericks employees Friday via en email obtained by ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
Bonuses will be provided by Cuban alongside the new majority owners of the Mavericks, the Adelson and Dumont families.
Bonuses will be based on how long employees worked for the franchise and will be sent "in the very near future," Cuban wrote.
Cuban sold his share of the franchise for approximately $3.5 billion but will retain operational control of the Mavericks, per The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Cuban still retains a 27 percent stake in the Mavericks after previously controlling 85 percent of the franchise.
Friday's email constituted Cuban's formal announcement to employees that he had sold that controlling share, according to Marc Stein.
"I will stay an active partner... and work as usual handling and overseeing the basketball side of things," Cuban wrote in his email, per Stein.
Cuban has previously said his role with the team will mean he still has a final say in who coaches the Mavericks, and which free agents the team signs, according to the Associated Press.
Cuban paid $285 million for a majority stake in the Mavericks in 2000.
Over two decades later, the Mavericks have the seventh-highest value in the NBA at an estimated $4.5 billion, per Forbes.
Cuban himself has a net worth of $6.2 billion, according to Forbes. Miriam Adelson, one of the new controlling shareholders of the Mavs in addition to the Las Vegas Sands Corp., has a net worth of $32.5 billion, making her the 45th-richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
The Mavericks made the playoffs 19 times, including a run to the NBA title in 2011, during Cuban's 23 seasons as majority owner. They currently rank seventh in the Western Conference with a 20-15 record.
