Mark Cuban /

Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American entrepreneur and the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet. In April 2011, Cuban placed Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures up for sale, but he added that he wouldn't sell the companies unless the offer was "very, very compelling." Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, in a Jewish working-class family. His last name was shortened from "Chabenisky" when his Russian grandparents landed on Ellis Island. Cuban's father Norton was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban's first step into the business world occurred at age 12, when he sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. While in school, he held a variety of jobs, including bartender, disco dancing instructor, and party promoter. He paid for college by collecting and selling stamps, and once gained about $1,100 from starting a chain letter. Rather than attending high school for his senior year, Cuban enrolled as a full time student at the University of Pittsburgh.