Mark Cuban says work-life balance is a luxury ambitious people can’t afford because ‘there’s someone out there working 24/7 to kick your ass’
- Billionaire Mark Cuban isn’t a believer in taking a day off if you’re serious about building a business. The former Shark Tank star admitted that the secret to success is outperforming your competition and with it comes the expectation that somebody else is working 24 hours a day to “kick your ass.” Cuban adds that he looks to Warren Buffett’s grind for inspiration.
Gen Z may be known as the FOMO generation—driven by fear of missing out on parties, trends, or social movements. But for business leaders, FOMO takes on higher stakes: It’s the fear of missing the next big innovation or investment opportunity.
That pressure to stay ahead is a driving force of motivation for billionaire Mark Cuban, so much so that he said work-life balance isn’t achievable for those on the grind to success.
“There is no balance,” Cuban said on “The Playbook,” a series from Sports Illustrated bringing together athletes and business leaders.
“If you want to work nine-to-five, you can have work-life balance,” he told Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons. “If you want to crush the game, whatever game you’re in, there’s somebody working 24 hours a day to kick your ass.”
The former Shark Tank star knows a thing or two about finding success the hard way. After all, he recently admitted he didn’t take a vacation and lived with five roommates when he first started out in entrepreneurship.
All roads lead to Warren Buffett
Cuban’s grind begins each morning by reading and answering messages on his phone or laptop, something that takes between eight and 10 hours of his day, he recently told People.
Despite having over $8 billion to his name as an investor in hundreds of companies, there’s no sign Cuban is slowing down his embrace of the hustle culture. In fact, the 66-year-old just launched a new $750 million sports-focused private equity fund.
And his inspiration for still grinding while others start thinking about their retirement plans comes from Warren Buffett—who at 94 years old only just announced plans to step back as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
“I want to see what he’s going to do next,” Cuban said. “That’s the way I look at things. I’ve accomplished a lot in my life. I want to change health care, but that’s not the end-all, be-all.”
Other leaders like Apple CEO Tim Cook and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have also sung the Berkshire Hathaway founder’s praises. But what might truly differentiate Buffett from all others is that his work-life balance is reportedly relatively healthy. He avoids technology, has minimal meetings, and gets plenty of rest.
“I’ve created a good environment,” Buffett told the Wall Street Journal. “All I have to do is think and not be influenced by others.”
Fortune reached out to Cuban for comment.
CEOs and presidents agree: Work-life balance isn’t always achievable
Cuban is far from the first leader to have strong feelings about work-life balance. In fact, former President Barack Obama weighed in on the work-life debate earlier this year, admitting that finding balance isn’t possible while seeking excellence.
“If you want to be excellent at anything—sports, music, business, politics—there’s going to be times in your life when you’re out of balance, where you’re just working and you’re single-minded,” Obama admitted on The Pivot Podcast.
Moreover, for Zoom’s CEO, Eric Yuan, whose company has arguably blurred the boundaries between work and life by making it easier than ever to work from literally anywhere, “There’s no way to balance. Work is life, life is work.”
But there’s one exception for Yuan: “Whenever there’s a conflict, guess what? Family first. That’s it.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com