Mark Cuban Pulling A Martha Stewart?

Wild news in the world of Mark Cuban.  Wild in that another ridiculously rich bastard had some inside info and made a play to not get his ass handed to him in his financial portfolio.

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commision) alleges in a civil action that Mr. Cuban sold his entire 6% ownership stake on June 28, 2004, after learning that Mamma.com was raising money through a private investment in a public entity, or PIPE. [Ed's note: PIPE means that the company is creating more shares and selling them at a discounted price in order to raise cash, thereby brown-holing those that already own the stock] The next day, on June 29, the company announced the PIPE financing and shares of the company dropped by more than 10%. By selling his stake, the SEC alleges, Mr. Cuban avoided more than $750,000 in losses.

Say what you will about Cuban, but I still think he is a brilliant business man.  He writes a great blog that you should check out called Blog Maverick.

In defense of the SEC charges, Mr. Cuban stated, “I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff’s win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff’s process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government’s claims are false and they will be proven to be so.”

“When I die, I want to come back as me.”

TechCrunch50 rounded out this week with a fantastic one- on- one interview between Jason Calacanis and Mark Cuban. They talked about Cuban’s path to start- up genius and his wildly successful business career thus far. Cuban is his usual candid self and it was an absolutely hysterical interview.

Click the picture for the full transcript.