How is becoming a billionaire even possible, chronologically?

 In terms of time, how is it even conceivable to become a billionaire?

You must care a lot about making money to become a billionaire, right?

False, claims Mark Cuban.

According to Cuban, who spoke to GQ on Wednesday, he never placed a high value on material wealth while he developed the tech companies in the 1990s that would eventually make him obscenely wealthy. He claimed, "I never thought in terms of money."

Cuban said that his "driving motivation" was actually something quite different. He admitted, "I always thought in terms of time." "How can I direct my own fate has always been my main motivation. How am I supposed to manage my time?"

According to a 2018 Harvard Business School study, valuing your time more than money often leads to greater well-being and pleasure. Of course, Cuba was able to amass a lot of both. According to Forbes, his current estimated net worth is $4.6 billion.

Initially, Cuban believed he would never have to work again when he sold his first business, MicroSolutions, to CompuServe for $6 million, he told GQ.

Cuban continued, "What it gave me was freedom. I saved most of the money from the sale so I could live at my own pace without worrying about my job." When he did have money to spend, he said he spent it on trips with pals and "partying like a rock star."

Five years later, Todd Wagner, a friend from college, persuaded Cubans to sign up for an online streaming service so they could watch Indiana University basketball matches from their home in Texas. That program evolved into Broadcast.com, which Yahoo purchased in 1999 for $5.7 billion in stock.

When Yahoo stock first became valuable, Cuban had the option of holding onto it in the hopes of eventually selling it for a large profit. Instead, he told GQ that he was content with the cash he had received from the transaction and thought the stock market was overvalued. Just a few months before the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, he sold the majority of his Yahoo stock, causing the stock price to crash.

When you merely chase dollars, it never turns out good, Cuban remarked. "It taught me a heck of a lesson."

Cuban then proceeded to spend his money in ways that made him pleased, including purchasing his local Dallas Mavericks in 2000. Cuban spent $40 million on a Gulfstream V private business jet, nevertheless, as his first acquisition after becoming a billionaire.

Why would I need a plane? asked Cuban of GQ. "Your time is the most important item you will ever own. It was f—ing great, and it's the only thing I can do to save time and go everywhere."

Join right away: With this weekly email, learn more about managing your money and career.

Don't forget:

Here is Mark Cuban's financial advice for young people, who launched his first side business at the age of 12.

Why the CEO of "Shark Tank" who made millions was dubbed "a wonderful example for what not to do" by Mark Cuban

Click Here to Become Rich