Billionaire Mark Cuban’s long-awaited insider trading trial kicked off Tuesday in Dallas, but judging from the comments of some jurors it may already be over.
The reality-TV star and owner of the NBA’s Maverick’s seems to have won over his hometown peers.
One juror seated at the federal court skirmish called the 55-year-old businessman a “nice guy,” a second said she was “impressed” at how he stood up for his beliefs, while a third said he was “leaning” towards Cuban’s version of events based on what he already knew about the case.
And those three got on the jury.
The courtroom lovefest may have reached its peak, though, when Cuban shared a genial laugh with a fourth juror, who said she recalled the “Shark Tank” judge from his days as a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”
The woman then shared her thoughts about Cuban, telling the court he was “not a good dancer.” The remark caused the at-times irascible investor to laugh out loud and nod in agreement from the defense table.
It probably wasn’t the way lawyers for the Securities and Exchange Commission envisioned the first day of their 5-year old case starting out.
Cuban, according to the regulator, sidestepped a $750,000 loss on his shares of Momma.com in 2004 by selling his shares soon after learning confidentially from CEO Guy Fauré of a private placement that would have diluted his investment.
SEC lawyer Jan Folena told the jury in her opening remarks that Cuban, who also owns Landmark Theatres, HDTV and Magnolia Pictures, should have waited to sell his stake in the Internet service provider after learning of a private stock offering that would hurt his stake.
But Cuban couldn’t wait “because in his mind, that’s losing, and Mark Cuban is a winner,” the Folena said.
“Well, now I’m screwed, I can’t sell,” Cuban reportedly told Fauré after learning of the private placement.
“Mark Cuban is a smart and successful investor and businessman,” Folena told the seven-woman, three- man jury.
“That same determination, that drive to win, that competitive edge … is exactly what caused him to break the law,” she added.
The SEC first sued Cuban in 2008. The case was tossed by the trial judge but then re-instated by a federal appeals court.
Cuban’s lawyer Thomas Melsheimer Tuesday denied that Cuban ever promised to not sell.
“Mr. Cuban made no agreement of any kind on June 28 with Guy Fauré,” Melsheimer said in his opening remarks.
The SEC’s case has taken many twists and turns since it was first filed, including being tossed by Dallas federal judge Sidney Fitzwater in 2009 only to have it sent back for trial by a federal appeals court in 2010.