Billionaire Mark Cuban Says He's Qualified to Be President

Mark Cuban
Investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban arrives before the start of the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 19, 2016, in Las Vegas. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

In the age of a billionaire president with no real political experience, Mark Cuban, another billionaire with no real political experience, is being asked quite a bit about a prospective presidential bid.

And he's not ruling it out. During an interview on the Fox News show Objectified (airing Sunday), the Shark Tank personality and owner of the Dallas Mavericks said he's qualified to be commander in chief.

"I think we're going into a time where you need somebody who can connect to people and relate to people, and I think I qualify on each of those," Cuban told host Harvey Levin. He sidestepped the question of whether he'll actually run for president: "Whether or not I'll do it—it's a big decision."

Related: Mark Cuban has 'secret plan' for hypothetical Donald Trump interview

The more noncommittal he got, the more he sounded like a politician:

I wouldn't run unless I have solutions. If I have solutions, then I have something to offer. If I don't, you won't see me anywhere near being a politician.

Though not a liberal, Cuban, 59, has been critical of President Donald Trump, and in 2015, he mused that he "could beat both Trump and Clinton" in the 2016 election. With his vast fortune and reality TV background, he has plenty of things in common with the 45th president, which would make for a bizarre 2020 showdown. (He has suggested he could run as an independent instead of a Democrat.)

It's not the first time he's teased a presidential bid. Earlier this month, Cuban said he was "seriously considering" a run for president, and that he would "definitely be running" if he were single.

Here's a look at all the celebrities who could follow Trump into political office.

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Zach Schonfeld is a senior writer for Newsweek, where he covers culture for the print magazine. Previously, he was an ... Read more

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