You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

What Does Mark Cuban Do First Thing in the Morning? For this billionaire entrepreneur, work is the breakfast of champions.

By Kim Lachance Shandrow

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

No chakra-cleansing yoga. No brisk sunrise run. No steaming hot cuppa' Joe. Not for Mark Cuban. Like Winston Churchill, the first thing the intrepid billionaire does after waking up is work, right from his bed. Then he works some more.

"Business is my morning meditation," Cuban told us on the Culver City, Calif. Shark Tank set between filming Season Six pitches last week. "Business is what I like. I get up and I work immediately. I love doing this." Then he flashed his trademark million-watt smile, the one he says defines his success. "[Success] is defined by waking up with a smile on your face, knowing it's going to be a great day."

The energetic, 6-foot-3 Dallas Mavericks owner and veteran tech mogul loves working so much, he says, that he also regularly does it in the middle of the night. "If something's on my mind, I'll get up several times at night and start hitting some Cyber Dust. I'll work."

Related: Shark Tank Star Mark Cuban: 'Money Can't Buy Happiness'

No, Cyber Dust isn't a tasty midnight snack. It's Cuban's new Snapchat-like ephemeral app. He says he created the private mobile messaging tool to take back his privacy in the wake of his recent insider trading battle with the SEC, which he won.

The one-time bartender and disco teacher, the first to attend college in his working-class family, says he checks Cyber Dust literally first thing after he opens his eyes in the morning (or at night) "because that's where all of my most important messages are." We can't even begin to imagine how many jam his inbox.

Related: How to Trick Yourself into Becoming a Morning Person

Next, Cuban, whose family name was Chabenisky before his Russian immigrant grandfather changed it at Ellis Island, checks his emails. Then the richest Shark -- boasting a net worth of an estimated $2.6 billion -- starts putting out fires. I "read, update and deal with whatever issues I have to address. First thing's first and the first thing for me is always work."

You can watch Cuban work, and obviously have a ton of fun doing it, during Shark Tank's Season Six premiere on Friday, Sept. 26, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET/PT on your local ABC station.

Related: Mark Cuban: There's No Playing Nice With Your Competition

Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at Los Angeles CityBeat, a news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has also written for Government Technology magazine, LA Yoga magazine, the Lowell Sun newspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at @Lashandrow. You can also follow her on Facebook here

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

This Highly-Debated Piece of Cinematic History Just Sold For Over $700,000 at Auction

The wood panel from "Titanic" is often mistaken as a door. Either way, he couldn't have fit. (Sorry.)

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

From Tom Brady to Kevin O'Leary – See Who Lost Big in the Wake of the FTX Crypto Collapse

The crash exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX's accounts, leaving investors and customers scrambling to recoup their funds.

Money & Finance

5 Simple Wealth-Building Tips For This Generation's Forward-Thinkers

Explore practical finance tips for young professionals striving to overcome economic challenges.