Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is known for shaking up industries, and he isn't afraid to call out his own. In a recent appearance on “The Tennessee Holler” podcast, Cuban got candid about why he believes companies have a moral and financial responsibility to pay their workers enough to keep them off public assistance.
Taxpayers Shouldn't Foot the Bill for Low Wages
“To me, it’s an embarrassment if anybody who works for me is on Medicaid,” Cuban said. “That means they’re not making enough and other taxpayers are subsidizing my business. That’s just wrong.”
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Cuban argued that when companies don't pay their workers enough, and those workers end up on public assistance like Medicaid, it's not just unfair to the workers, it's also unfair to taxpayers. In his view, the government is basically helping companies save money by picking up the healthcare tab they should be covering.
Instead, he said business owners should take ownership and find ways to ensure their workers are financially stable. That includes not only raising wages but also offering long-term financial benefits like equity. “Going to the rich people and saying, ‘We’ll make it better for you if you make it better for them,’ that’s the disconnect that I have.”
The comment reflects Cuban's broader belief that corporate responsibility should go beyond profit margins and directly address worker well-being. In his own companies, he said, he views reliance on Medicaid by employees as a red flag: a sign that the company is failing to live up to its obligations.
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Pushing For A System That Works For Workers
Cuban's frustration is part of a larger critique of the American healthcare and employment systems. He said he's trying to change that with Cost Plus Drugs, his startup focused on transparent and affordable prescription drug pricing.
“We wanted to be that transparent so people trust us,” he said. “We don't try to price market. We try to do what's fair.”
Beyond healthcare, Cuban has proposed policy ideas to shift more power and wealth to workers, including a program to guarantee insurance deductibles and wider use of employee stock ownership.
“If you want to see your taxes go down… then what you have to do is give every single employee equity in your company on an equal ratio to earnings,” he said.
Ultimately, Cuban's message is that businesses shouldn't rely on the government to fill in the gaps left by low pay. Doing so, he said, doesn't just hurt workers, it undermines the broader economy and sticks the public with the bill.
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