Dallas Mavericks minority owner and billionaire Mark Cuban told Bloomberg on Monday he’d vote for President Joe Biden over Republican frontrunner Donald Trump even if Biden was receiving his “last rites”—a repeat endorsement from Cuban, who has supported Biden in the past, albeit in a limited capacity.
Cuban attended a White House roundtable Monday. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Cuban, who is also the founder of Cost Plus Drugs, a low-priced prescription drug provider, said if it was “[Biden] versus Trump, and [Biden] was being given last rites, I would still vote for Joe Biden,” according to Bloomberg.
Cuban told Bloomberg Biden’s effort to allow Medicare to negotiate some drug prices was a “good start,” though he didn’t offer much praise beyond that.
The billionaire entrepreneur visited the White House for a roundtable on prescription drugs Monday, and said Biden should stop working with the three major pharmacy benefit managers that negotiate drug prices for insurance companies (CVS Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRX) and that doing so would “change an entire industry in less than five years.”
Cuban targeted the pharmacy benefit managers Monday, saying they were “everything wrong with this industry” and citing a lack of transparency in their contracts with clients and high charges for basic drugs.
We estimate Cuban’s net worth at $6.2 billion.
Cuban also told Bloomberg he cast a ballot for Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as a “protest vote against Trump.” He added he would still support Biden in general.
15.2%. That’s the average drug price increase between 2022 and 2023, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cuban has expressed support for Biden before, saying ahead of the 2020 presidential election he was “the right choice for business.” However, the billionaire has critiqued the president before as well, characterizing Biden as being “too silent” during the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cuban founded Cost Plus Drugs in 2022. The company acts as an alternative to traditional drug wholesalers and offers prescription drugs at low costs, and is one of the reasons why Cuban has aligned with Biden to some extent. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act included provisions directed at lowering prescription drug prices, including letting Medicare to negotiate the prices of some drugs with pharma companies.
Mark Cuban Backs Biden in 2024, Urging More Action on Drug Costs (Bloomberg)
Mark Cuban Selling Majority Stake In Dallas Mavericks To Casino Magnate Miriam Adelson, Report Says (Forbes)