Mark Cuban’s Worst Investment on Shark Tank?

Mark Cuban is renowned for his astute financial decisions, like buying and selling the Dallas Mavericks at a staggering profit, and even owning an entire town in Texas.

However, finance is inherently risky, and not all of Cuban’s investments have been successful.

If you’re familiar with the popular TV show “Shark Tank,” you’ll know that Cuban, along with a panel of investors known as “sharks,” listen to pitches from entrepreneurs seeking funding to expand their businesses.

The show has been on air for over a decade, and Cuban has invested over $20 million in 85 startups featured on the program. Despite this, he recently revealed that he has incurred an overall net loss across these deals.

In an episode of the “Full Send Podcast,” Cuban disclosed that his worst investment on “Shark Tank” was for a product called “The Breathometer,” pitched as “the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer” by entrepreneur Charles Michael Yim in 2013.

Yim claimed the device could send Blood Alcohol Content level readings to your phone and offered users the option to call a cab if too intoxicated. It sounded like a game-changing invention, especially appealing given the DUI statistics in places like Texas.

All five sharks decided to invest in Yim, collectively putting in $1 million for a 30% stake, valuing Yim’s business at $3.3 million.

However, Cuban recounted checking Yim’s social media a few weeks after their investment and noticing him traveling around the world, mingling with celebrities and billionaires instead of focusing on the breathalyzer’s development.

Yim justified his actions as “networking” for the business, but Cuban stated that soon enough, all the invested money was gone, calling the incident his “biggest beating.”

According to a report from CNBC, Yim shifted his focus away from the Breathometer in 2016 to work on another product. In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against Yim and Breathometer, alleging the company misled consumers about the product’s capabilities.

That same month, Breathometer reached a settlement with the FTC over the complaint, agreeing to refund all customers who had purchased the product. Yim admitted he did not commit to proper product testing but denied Cuban’s allegations. He mentioned that the “sharks” might recoup some of their investments because the company had recently agreed to be acquired.