It’s refreshing to read a level-headed, non-vitriolic assessment of the talking yam, erh, Trump.
I suppose Cuban agreeing to exchange e-mails was generous of his time. But his replies remind me of trying to claw a meat laden bone from the jaws of a dog.
Not much substance there.
Mr. Cuban seem a bit hesitant to believe the worst of a fellow billionaire, especially his thought on why Trump is not disclosing his taxes. I think he’s definitely hiding something big.
The big takeaway for me: “He isn’t an entrepreneur. He is a brand.”
“He isn’t an entrepreneur. He is a brand.”
A brand that’s getting tarnished, so he’s even more desperate to win, because he’ll be considered a huge loser, otherwise.
The generosity is in allowing them to be published. I read the exchange as Cuban being cautious and unwilling to speculate - like he’s playing a game where you have to guess the other guys wealth. He gives several reasons why Trump may be asset rich but cash poor, and then says it ultimately doesn’t matter. He does not appear to be liquid, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t billions socked away that he is either unable or unwilling to access
Sounds like Cuban wants to give Donald the benefit of the doubt on every question, no matter how big the doubt is.
Much like defense lawyers do.
“He isn’t an entrepreneur. He is a brand.”
THIS!
It applies equally to him as both a “Businessman” and as a “Politician”.
There is nothing behind the curtain, just a little man with little hands trying to pull the big levers down with his own light-weight.
Like Casey Stengel’s congressional testimony,one has to read between the lines.
he is a brand, and that is why he has to constantly boast that he is worth TEN BILLION DOLLARS.
Mark Cuban doesn’t have to remind you he’s a billionaire. Nor does George Soros, or the Koch Bros., or Warren Buffett.
I can’t think of a single billionaire in the public eye who has to rub everyone’s noses in that fact. Only Trump.
Because he’s a brand. The brand will collapse like a soufflé if it’s revealed he’s not a billionaire, if he’s a loser, if he’s just a desperate hustler.
As for Cuban’s reticence to comment about how wildly inflated Trump’s net worth may be… perhaps it doesn’t matter to Cuban, but it certainly matters to Trump’s brand, to his idiot cultists. I’m curious why he refused to speculate on that. It matters, whether it matters to Mark personally or not.
Trump is highly leveraged. He may have well in excess of $100M in liquid-ish assets, but as Josh pointed out… he’s probably not free to spend it. Trump is sitting on his cushion that he can’t afford to spend because then he will be more or less broke.
I think you are not a defense lawyer and do not know any defense lawyers well. Just an observation, as a defense lawyer.
Mark Cuban: Don’t agree. He probably is embarrassed by how much he made in a given year. I don’t think it’s anything more than that.
GTFO with that bullshit, Mark.
Agreed. Cuban had nothing to add. He is an “accidental” billionaire in the mold of Paul Allen and not someone I would consider an expert in anything.
I think Mr. Cuban is overestimating the value of Drumpf’s New York real estate holdings. For instance, it is my understanding that The Durst Organization owns VASTLY more NYC real estate than tRump and The Durst Organization has an estimated value of only $4.4billion. The Donald may own some valuable NYC properties, but they don’t get him anywhere near the $10billion he claims to be worth.
LOL Absolutely! There’s no way in hell Trump would ever be embarrassed about how much he made in a given year. His brand, his political career, his campaign is built entirely around being wealthy and amassing more wealth. It’s simply laughably stupid (and a little insulting to JM) to suggest Trump might somehow be ashamed of his wealth. It’s who he is. I bet Cuban thinks The Rock is afraid to appear shirtless in his next movie because The Rock is afraid he’s just too jacked and chiseled to play an action figure.
I think Mark is saying he’d be ashamed at how low the figure actually is on the tax form.
That’s how I interpreted this, the second time through.
Trump’s personal brand: Narcissist. His political brand: Vichy Republican. His business brand: Con Man.
Agreed. Interesting tone and a few things that can be read between the lines, but basically entirely uninformative.