2024-11-07 08:15:03
If you were surfing the internet, you may have seen this shark-related claim.
“Mark Cuban’s Net Worth Takes a $1 Billion Hit After Controversial Endorsement: ‘Go Woke, Go Broke’” read a Nov. 4 Threads post. The post links to an article that claims, “In a twist that even Shark Tank viewers couldn’t have seen coming, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban’s net worth reportedly dropped by a staggering $1 billion mere hours after endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.”
Did “Shark Tank” star, Dallas Mavericks minority owner and business investor Mark Cuban lose $1 billion dollars following his endorsement of Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election Nov. 5 to former President Donald Trump? No, this claim originated as satire.
(Screenshot of Threads post)
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The same claim was shared first Nov. 2 by SpaceX Fanclub, a known satire account. Its Facebook page reads, “We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.” The satire post links to an article on Esspots, also a known satire website.
But when the claim was reshared on Threads, it was not labeled as satire. PolitiFact has fact-checked numerous claims that have originated on SpaceX Fanclub and Esspots that have later spread without a satire label.
The article linked in the viral Threads post is identical to the satire story shared Nov. 2 on Esspots.
PolitiFact also searched the Nexis news database for headlines about Cuban’s net worth dropping and found no reports. The article shared in the Threads post also refers to posts and public comments that Cuban supposedly made to the media, but PolitiFact found no evidence of those comments.
According to Forbes, Cuban’s net worth has actually risen since his public endorsement of Harris. An archived Forbes profile of Cuban from July 17, lists a net worth of $5.4 billion. He, along with other venture capitalists, endorsed Kamala Harris on July 31.
As of Nov. 6, Forbes lists Cuban’s net worth as $5.7 billion.
The claim that Cuban’s net worth took a $1 billion hit after endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris originated as satire.
We rate this claim False.
