Mark Cuban Says If You Win The Lottery, Don’t Take The Lump Sum — And Tell People Who Ask for Money No, But ‘Be Nice. No One Likes a Mean Billionaire’

There’s a certain point when a lottery jackpot gets so big that people start spending it in their heads.

Buy the house. Buy the cars. Help the family. Pay off every bill. Never worry about money again.

It’s a pretty great dream.

With the Powerball jackpot recently reaching an estimated $1 billion, there’s plenty of reason to imagine what life would look like after hitting the winning numbers. And while most people would probably have a long shopping list ready, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has a very different idea of what should happen next.

His advice? Slow down.

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Cuban knows a thing or two about suddenly having a whole lot more money. He made his fortune after selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in stock in 1999. He later became a familiar face as a star investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank.”

So when Cuban offered advice to a potential Powerball winner in 2016, it was worth listening to.

First, Call a Tax Attorney

When the Powerball jackpot was nearing $1.6 billion in 2016, Cuban shared his advice with The Dallas Morning News.

The first thing on his list was simple: Hire a tax attorney.

Not a personal shopper. Not a financial guru. Not the friend who suddenly has a “really good investment opportunity.”

A tax attorney comes first.

Cuban also had a strong opinion about how the winner should collect the money.

Don’t take the lump sum.

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“Don’t take the lump sum. You don’t want to blow it all in one spot,” Cuban said.

He favored the annuity, which spreads the prize money over roughly 30 years. The thinking is pretty straightforward. A giant pile of cash sitting in one account can disappear a lot faster than expected when everyone involved suddenly has a reason to spend it.

Winning Doesn’t Make Someone an Investor

This might be the most interesting part of Cuban’s advice.

He told potential lottery winners not to suddenly start investing just because they had won.

“You don’t become a smart investor when you win the lottery,” Cuban said. “Don’t make investments.”

That may sound strange coming from someone who built a career around business and investing. But that’s precisely the point.

Winning the lottery doesn’t magically turn someone into Warren Buffett.

Cuban said a winner could simply put the money in the bank, live comfortably, and avoid taking unnecessary risks. There’s no need to turn a $500 million fortune into a $700 million fortune when $500 million is already enough to change a person’s life several times over.

And, as Cuban put it, the winner would “sleep a lot better knowing you won’t lose money.”

Then Come the Calls

The money itself may not be the biggest adjustment.

The phone calls could be.

Cuban warned that friends and relatives would ask for money. His advice was to say no, even if that meant having some uncomfortable conversations.

That doesn’t mean he thought winners should never help anyone. He said people who genuinely want to help loved ones can do so, but they should talk to their accountant first.

His basic rule was that nobody needs $1 million or $100,000 simply because they asked for it.

The sudden appearance of a long-lost cousin with a business idea probably shouldn’t be treated as a financial emergency.

Money Helps, But It Isn’t Happiness

Cuban also had something to say about what happens after the excitement wears off.

“If you weren’t happy yesterday, you won’t be happy tomorrow. It’s money. It’s not happiness,” he said.

But he wasn’t arguing that money doesn’t matter.

“If you were happy yesterday, you are going to be a lot happier tomorrow,” Cuban said. “It’s money. Life gets easier when you don’t have to worry about the bills.”

That distinction is probably the most relatable part of his advice. A billion-dollar jackpot can eliminate plenty of problems. It just can’t guarantee that everything else in life suddenly falls into place.

One More Rule: Be Nice

Business Insider later followed up with Cuban and asked whether he had any additional advice for a lottery winner.

He had one more tip.

“Be nice. No one likes a mean billionaire. :)”

Fair enough.

There’s already enough drama that comes with becoming rich overnight. No need to add “everyone in town hates the billionaire” to the list.

Cuban’s lottery playbook is almost boringly simple: Get tax advice. Think carefully about the payout. Don’t start playing investor with money that can already fund several lifetimes. Set boundaries with friends and family. And remember that being rich doesn’t require becoming insufferable.

For anyone lucky enough to find a winning ticket, there will be plenty of time for the cars, houses, and other fun stuff.

First, Cuban says, figure out how not to screw up the money.