Shark Tank Shocker: Mark Cuban Announces He’s Leaving After Season 16

After next season, ABC’s Shark Tank will have some very large shoes to fill.

In a recent interview with the Showtime podcast All The Smoke, Mark Cuban revealed to hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that Season 16 will be his last. (The Mark Burnett-created reality show is currently airing its 15th season.)

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“It’s time,” said Cuban, who is currently appearing on his 13th season of the program. He first guested on Shark Tank in Season 2 before becoming a regular shark the following year.

ABC declined comment, but a Shark Tank source maintains that Cuban’s exit is not official, noting that “he has said this before.”

“I love [the show] because it sends the message the American dream is alive and well,” Cuban told the podcast hosts. “I feel like in doing Shark Tank all these years, we’ve trained multiple generations of entrepreneurs that if somebody can come from Iowa or Sacramento or wherever, and show up on the carpet of Shark Tank and show their business and get a deal, it’s going to inspire generations of kids. That’s what happens, right? Now we’ve got people coming on saying I watched you when I was 10 years old. I’m like, f—. But we’re helping them right? I’ve invested in, I don’t know how many hundreds of companies. On a cash basis, I’m down a little bit, but on a mark to market meeting, the companies are still in operation. I’m way up.”

Barnes and Jackson later asked how he knows what would make a good investment. Cuban replied, “I just listen to them. You can just tell. Body language matters. The harder they have to try to sell, the worse the deal… when someone walks in Shark Tank, you can tell if they are trying too hard. I have this rule: The longer the back story, the worse the deal. The minute you start telling me you’re how hard it was for you, it’s hard for every motherf–king entrepreneur. Tell me about your business, tell me why you are going to be successful…. I look for ideas like, ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of that?'”

In addition to Cuban, the Season 15 sharks include Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner. Candace Nelson, Michael Rubin and Jason Blum have appeared as guest sharks.

Will you be sad to see Cuban go? Who should replace him? Sound off in the comments below!

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