Mark Cuban Is Set to Sell Majority Stake in Dallas Mavericks to Adelson Family
The widow of the late casino mogul plans to sell $2 billion of stock to acquire a stake in the NBA franchise
One week before the NBA touches down in Las Vegas for the final of its inaugural In-Season Tournament, Sin City has forged another link to the hardwood. The family of the late casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, a source familiar with the deal said Tuesday.
Las Vegas Sands disclosed plans by Miriam Adelson, Sheldon Adelson’s widow, to sell an estimated $2 billion in stock in the company, which a regulatory filing said would be “used to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise…subject to customary league approvals.” NBA reporter Marc Stein first reported that the franchise in question would be the Mavericks.
Since he purchased the Mavericks in 2000, Cuban has stood out among the NBA’s buttoned-down ownership class. He regularly forgoes a luxury suite to sit near his team’s bench, and he cuts an emotional figure courtside. Cuban pumps his fists and shouts to support the Mavericks; he has racked up fines for berating officials when their whistles don’t go his way. The tab of fines he’s incurred from the NBA over the years goes well into the millions.
There has been a method to what has sometimes seemed like madness. The Mavericks have reached the postseason 18 times during Cuban’s tenure, including two appearances in the NBA Finals, winning a championship in 2011. They have also been the American home of two of basketball’s most iconic European players: the Hall-of-Fame forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was the centerpiece of the title team, and the 24-year-old wunderkind Luka Doncic, one of the top scoring and assist threats in today’s game.
Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021 at the age of 87, rode his success in the casino industry to a fortune worth more than $30 billion and a standing as one of the country’s most prolific Republican donors. Together, he and Miriam, a physician who founded two research centers for fighting substance abuse, contributed $20 million to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. In 2018, President Trump awarded Miriam Adelson the Medal of Freedom.
Las Vegas Sands has lobbied in recent years for legalization of casinos in Texas, an effort that has so far failed.