The Dallas Mavericks and turned them into nba champs. Not bad. Hi, mark, nice to see you. Good to see you. I see you noticed the ring. Beautiful ring. Coach carlisle gave me that because i worked with your team that year. I get chills seeing it. Tell me something, you are ziebed in a lot of different ways. Ive wanted to meet you for a long time. Passionate, outrageous, playful. Youve taken business and built it into a sport, incredibly successful. I think hunger is the most important element. You seem to have this insatiable hunger. Im passionate but i dont have 2 million fines from nba referees, right . Tell me something, where does that passion come from in you . And tell me, if people dont think they have it, can they find it . How do you keep it . Thats a great question. I dont know if im wired that way. I kind of feel like i am. But im just the most competitive guy youll ever meet. To me, business is a sport and ive always got to be competing. Ive got to always try to win. And i wasnt good enough at athletics but when i got into business i realized that i wasnt just competing against an opponent for 48 minutes in a game or 60 minutes, youre competing against everybody who ever might compete. And that just keeps it going. Against the withhold world. Right. And theres always some 18yearold kid wanting to come in and kick your butt. That keeps me young, motivated and hungry. Because i never want to get kicked off the perch. Do you agree that hunger is the most important element . You know, i think its effort. If hunger creates effort, then yes, absolutely. Its about hunger. Because i think so many people always talk about their dreams. I think the big est lie if all of business, if you will, or all of mentoring is follow your dreams. Because if you think about it, we all have dreams. I started off wanting to be a baseball player, i dreamed of this, dream of that. Then you realize that where you should go is where your effort takes you. Yeah, i practiced baseball and basketball and loved it. But then i found myself spending more time with business and learning about business or being involved in business. It was really my effort that drove me. I always tell people, dont follow your dreams, follow your effort of. Where are you hungry enough to put in the time . Because thats where youll get results. What about timing . So often in life you see really good people who fail, and i find its not because they diplomat try or put forth theest. They did the right thing at the wrong question. No question. People buying a house for a hundred years right thing to do, right . 2007 not the right time. Right. Timing is relative to scale. So when i started my First Business i had just gotten fired from a job and i didnt have a choice. I went the next seven years without a vacation, sold the company for 6 million. So i was 29 and i was retired. Bought a lifetime pass on american airlines. I was great. Did you just go party . Like a madman. I can see you doing that, mark. That wouldnt be difficult. Not at all. Its in my nature. I went nuts. I wasnt in a position to buy a sports team, change the world, but i was comfortable. If i was willing to live like a stuld, i was set for life. Then my next business came along and it happened to be we started the business of streaming. This is 1995, which is right when internet stock started going nuts. And theres no question that had my next business not happened when the whole internet bubble had come along, i wouldnt be worth billions of dollars. What were the revenues of your company when you sold it for 5. 9 billion . We were doing about well, the last public quarter i think was 13 million, then 18 million, then i think our last after we sold was 25 million for the quarter. Thats just revenue. Right. It was 5. 9 in cash. I want to get to that. People say, a guy like mark is so lucky. I am lucky. Im the first to tell you that. But also you got out of that yahoo stock before it went down, too. I was stupid. But im saying, can you make your own luck by putting yourself in the right position . A lot of people see themselves as the season hits me rather than, let me see what season were in and how do we taking advantage of winter . Have you done that throughout your life . You were one of the first hdnet guys. I always try to change the game because theres just starting and rujing a business. Then i sit there and say, look, im not the best programmer, not the most technical guy. But with salesability, businessability and technical ability, i can walk in and say, what can i do to change . Whether wra creating first High Definition network, hdnet in 2001, we have a company mag nola pictures a distribution company. This model isnt workinging, spending all this money to promote a movie and praying people show up is a bad model. I looked at the technology in tv, video convict demand in tv is going to xproed. Lets put the movies on vod where people can make an impulse buy with their Remote Control and buy our movies first. Then because we own landmark theaters put them in a theater. We went from money that lost money or rarely lost and always made money as a company and now everybody is trying to copy us. Thats what i try to look for. Its amazing. Youll always find that Competitive Edge. One of the Competitive Edge with the mavericks, you took the team who had been in one playoff in 20 years . Yes. We were voted the worst professional franchise for the 90s before i bought them. You got them in the playoffs. Yes. In 2011 you become champions. That kind of turnaround doesnt just happen. You brought in innovative leadership and brought leaders into the group. I think we agree leadership is the cutting edge. We are about to decide who our leader is going to be for the next four years. John wooden, he had different player and won 12 champions, schaech 7 in a row. How valuable is the leader . What is the most important qualities in a leader today . How do you know if theyve got the right stuff and how do you know if you let them go or stay with them . Its tough with coaches. They always tell you coaches are liared to be fired. With with rick carlisle, our mu mutual friend and coach, you not only have to no whae youre good at, you have to know what youre not good at. That is one of ricks incredible strengths. He doesnt try to sell you on what hes not. He says, heres what im great at, heres what im not. If you can provide me support for the not so good thingthingsl take advantage of that. Thats my role, how to put everybody in a position to succeed so we can get a few more of these. How do you keep that hunger alive . Guys like the bulls in the days of jordan, threepeating, how do they keep the edge . Pave thats not hard. Once you taste it, you have to go back for more. Its that great tasting champagne. Or steak. No one ever just has one steak. You always want more. Tell me, youve been one of the reasons i want you on the show because we have people who are more republicaning inorien. Ive heard you rip both sides. Are we better off than four years ago . Individually it depends on your personal circumstances. You may or may not be. As a country, if you go back four years ago, here we are in september. September 2008 we had four or five of the biggest oneday drops in the dow. When you watch the market go up and down, trillions of dollars, people have no certainty. At the same time we were talking about being in the throes of the great resectisession. Not only were we in a great recession, we didnt know if we were leaning toward recession. We didnt know about banking, housing. Complete uncertainty. Today were worried about the fiscal cliff. Back then we had no certainty on our whole financial system. The fact we got through that uncertainty speaks volumes that were far better off today than we were back then. When we come back, id like to ask you about president obama and id like to ask you about mitt romney and get a clear idea of where you think this country needs to go. What does the leadership need to provide for things to prosper Going Forward. Very good. The writers desktop and the coordinators phone are working on a joke with local color. The secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategists tablet. And while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center. Working together has never worked so well. Handcarved on the side of a cliff is the guoliang tunnel. What . youve got to be kidding me. [ derek ] ive never seen a road like this. Theres jagged rock all the way around. This is really gonna test the ats on all levels. [ derek ] this road is the most uneven surface, and it gets very narrow. Magnetic ride control is going to be working hard. The shock absorbers react to the road 1,000 times a second. It keeps you firmly in control. Whoa [ male announcer ] the allnew cadillac ats. Hey, bro. Or engaging. Conversations help us learn and grow. At wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. Its this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. So when the conversation turns to your financial goals. Turn to us. If you need anything else, let me know. [ female announcer ] wells fargo. Together well go far. [ male announcer ] unisom helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep. So i wake up rested. [ male announcer ] unisom. Fall asleep faster. Sleep longer. Mch p p of of of. And the celebration will begin. The Dallas Mavericks are nba champions, the first title in franchise history. Come here. Come here. Come here. Tell me something, i can see the look in your eyes. You cant help but get emotional. You were telling me during the break. What did you say about the ring . I cant have it out when i see it because i get so fired up and so crazy, like lets go and i have to go no, ive got to go play with my kids and ive got to chill. I have to keep it where i cant see it. What did it mean to you to create that after a little less than ten years . Hard to describe, happy for dirk, our players, our fans and almost more of a relief than anything else. You saw on the video that you just see me screaming, that was 67 days, the whole playoffs, dont even think about it dont jinx this, dont jinx this. You see it here, screaming and letting it all out. You have a hard time expressing your true emotions, dont you . Yeah. Take after my dad. Kids take friends to move the the movies and say, watch my dad watch the movie. Thats why i wanted to meet you. Talk about leadership once again. Talk about the president and mitt romney. Tell me, first of all, rather than the people what are the qualities we need in a leader today dealing with the level of volatility in market, today, challenges in europe, asia, potentially china slowing down what do we need in a great leader . And give me your report card for president obama, i know you are a big supporter of his what would your report be for what you think mitt romney could do . Im not a big supporter for everybody, i try to be objective and make a common sense decision based on the information in front of me. But in terms of leadership, first, i dont think the president has as much influence particularly on the economy. Global affairs, absolutely right but on the economy i agree with you. Nearly as much as people seem to think. To say whether it was president bush before him or president obama now, only to do a, b or c even president clinton, a dear friend. A lot of it is outside. The internet hadnt happened for president clinton, he doesnt have a surplus. I dont think you can put as much credit or blame or any president ial candidate. So thats part of it. The thing that changed, concerned on both side, leadership has become in terms of managing your party, youre not voting for an individual anymore, not even voting for a ticket, you are voting for a whole party. You look at the tea party and their influence, its the same on both sides. So much money involved right now that you cant just say, okay, president obama, this is what i like or dont like, governor romney, what i like or dont like. How would you rate the parties . They both scare the hell out of me. They really, really do. I think a lot of it comes down to the devil i know is better than the devil i dont know. When you look and try to go through the decision process and i will leave it wide open until the debate, right, i will have an open mind until we go through the debates, both in business scenarios someone comes in and looking to hire them okay what are you going to do to increase profits of this country . Im going to increase sales. Not enough detail, im going to cut costs, that is not enough detail. That is not what were thats what were hearing from the republicans and governor romney. You got to the give me detail. Talked about being a business person. Would not hire anybody came in auditioning for a job the way he is auditioning for a job. The other hand, you look at obama and you say, well what have you done, are you better off . Voting as individuals that is important. At the same time, i dont know he could have done a whole lot any different or republicans would have done it different. Now if we go forward, again, i know obama, have him in a sense talks, a voter, i have a sense what he is going to do any ongoing business, not going to make somebody i dont really know who is not really being forthcoming not giving me details, not going to hire him as a ceo of one of my companies. Okay, business isnt perfect, right . But im not willing to take a chance on somebody new. You want the certainty. So you can run your business and run your life. Theres more if governor romney and comes in and just cuts taxes, thats not good, right . Right. You talked about that. Youre more than happy to pay more taxes. Yes. I am, too. I saw the president myself, spent a half hour with him three or four weeks ago. I asked, how will things be different four years from now, such demonization on both sides, im curious as a businessman, both sides so locked up, they cant pass anything, not willing to pass anything, what will change . On do you like that . Theres something to be said for that, right . I would like to see the deficit reduced, all the things people are talking about. What it comes down to is individual responsibility for people in the business community. Republicans like to talk about taking the government out. I would love to take the government out. Just not realistic. Were in a situation third and 50 to go i dont care if you are a running team, you have to pass the ball. Where we are right now, i want to know whats going to happen from the republicans before i would consider. Yet with what obama has doing i have enough certainty i feel comfortable what is going on. I can run my business. What youre saying is ceos and those successful have to take responsibility of coming up with a plan. You cant just cut taxes without knowing the consequences. You cant just take the government out and push it off. Now what . People have to say, im a citizen, too. My shareholders are citizens of this country. I need to step up and hire people and do things for this country. Otherwise, i cant ask the government to do less. Im not taking any of the responsibility away from them. You are willing to do that. I do that. Im investing in companies every day. Why dont you run . You have done every damn thing else. That is the problem. Stick around. I want you to join our dream Team Together at the end here. If i was going to economic war, i would want these three men to be my come padres to make it happen. Coming up, the king of las vegas, steve wynn, the man who started with literally less than nothing, 300,000 of his fathers debts, and took las vegas and reshaped it into the entertainment capital of the world. How did he do it . How do you turn dreams into reality . Steve wynn is next. [ slap ] [ slap slap slap slap ] ow [ male announcer ] when your Favorite Foods fight you, fight back fast with tums smoothies. So fast and smooth, youll forget you had heartburn. Tum tum tum tum tums [ male announcer ] tums smoothies. Since Ameriprise Financial was founded back in 1894, theyve been committed to putting clients first. Helping generations through tough times. Good times. Never taking a bailout. There when you need them. Helping millions of americans over the centuries. The strength of a Global Financial leader. The heart of a onetoone relationship. Together for your future. Together for your future. And every day since, two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. Weve worked hard to keep it. Bp has paid over twentythree billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. Today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. Weve shared what weve learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. I want you to know, theres another commitment bp takes just as seriously our commitment to america. Bp supports nearly twohundredfifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. We hired three thousand people just last year. Bp invests more in america than in any other country. In fact, over the last five years, no other Energy Company has invested more in the us than bp. Were working to fuel america for generations to come. Today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. Were back and here with a legend. Steve wynn created a 12 billion building boom in vegas and reshaped it completely with the level of creativity and intensity and beauty people wouldnt think about. I love the overstatement there. Whats a kid supposed to do between mark cuban and t. Boone pickens . People know your story. Some people dont know this, you were an english major, studied comparative religion. Going to be a lawyer. How do you go from that to running a bingo parlor, 300,000 in debts and turning around an entire city. You took your vision and you made it real. You mentioned i was going to be a lawyer. At the last minute, i turned away from a life of crime. Thats appropriate after what happened with you today. But tell me. How did i get from there to here . My dad taught me you want to stick to simple ideas. I dont know, tony, where or when, but ever since i was a kid, the idea of building something that would make people go wow struck me as just about the coolest thing in the world to do. Now, its not saving lives in the real sense or doing something noteworthy, but its kept me a happy, happy person. A lot of other people, too. I have to build another hotel, next time i could get it right. Along the way, created 150,000, 250,000 jobs. The most satisfaction i have gotten, family, staffs of the hotels here and abroad and their family have all sort of merged into one. This familial organization. I live in the hotel. It is a great life. I talk to them and go to your hotels. Listen to what they say outside.