Mark Cuban Calls Out Entrepreneurs Who Refuse To Pay The Minimum Wage. ‘All Of Us Pay For The Fact That You’re Not Paying That Person Enough’

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban once delivered a frank message to business owners who resist paying higher wages: if companies underpay workers, everyone else ends up covering the cost.

Cuban explained that his views on the minimum wage changed after he discovered something troubling inside his own company. On the “Valuetainment” podcast in 2015, he shared that some employees were working full-time but still relying on government assistance to get by.

That discovery pushed Cuban to rethink how businesses treat lower-paid workers. He said he didn’t like the idea that taxpayers were indirectly making up for wages that were too low.

Don’t Miss: Most founders obsess over the wrong hires. See the 5 startup roles that actually determine whether a company scales or stalls.

“I hate the idea that I’m subsidizing somebody,” Cuban said. “You know, the fact that I’m not paying enough, everybody’s taxes are subsidizing this person’s life.”

As a result, Cuban raised the minimum wage at his company to at least $10 an hour later that year.

For Cuban, the issue comes down to fairness. When companies pay very low wages, workers often rely on public programs like food assistance or housing support to survive. That means taxpayers help fill the gap created by low pay.

“All of us pay for the fact that you’re not paying that person enough,” Cuban said in the interview, directing his criticism at entrepreneurs who resist raising wages.

He also noted that if wage increases apply broadly across businesses, the competitive playing field stays level. In other words, if everyone has to follow the same rules, no company gains an unfair advantage by paying workers less.

Trending: Think you’re saving enough for your kids? You might be dangerously off — see why

The conversation around minimum wage has continued for years, with strong opinions on both sides.

Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey has taken a different view. In a 2024 conversation with comedian Theo Von, Ramsey argued that minimum wage was never designed to support a family or build long-term wealth.

“I don’t think any time in history, minimum wage has been enough to take care of a family,” Ramsey said. “So you’ve always had to think beyond minimum wage if you wanted to excel, if you wanted, a, build some wealth or b, just take care of a family.”

Ramsey believes workers shouldn’t treat minimum wage as a limit. He pointed to his own experience as a teenager mowing lawns, saying he charged $3 per yard when the minimum wage at the time was $1.65 per hour.