Mark Cuban’s Private Jet: The $40 Million Email, the G550 and the Mavericks 757

In October 1999, Mark Cuban bought a Gulfstream V over the internet for $40 million without ever setting foot on it. The deal earned him a Guinness World Record for the largest single e-commerce transaction, a title he still holds, and it is where every Mark Cuban private jet story starts.

The registration he gave that jet, N718MC, is still in the FAA register under his company’s name. The jet itself is not. N718MC is now carried by a 2004 Gulfstream G550, while the record-setting Gulfstream V flies as N123FT for a company in Denver.

Below is every aircraft Cuban has owned or used, checked against the FAA’s releasable aircraft database as downloaded on October 1, 2026. That covers the online Gulfstream, the G550 he flies today, the Dallas Mavericks’ Boeing 757, the all-first-class 767 he rented out, and the Bombardier Global 6000 that fleet guides still credit to him.

Mark Cuban’s Private Jet Fleet, Past and Present

Only one aircraft in the current FAA register is owned by Radical Ventures LLC, the Dallas company that has held Cuban’s jets since 2000. The other four have been sold, re-registered or moved behind a trustee.

The Origin Story: From an Airline Pass to a Fleet

Cuban’s aviation habit started with a commercial airline pass and grew into a small charter business. These are the dated milestones, drawn from his own interviews and the registration records.

Inside N718MC: Mark Cuban’s Gulfstream G550

The jet Cuban flies today is a Gulfstream G550, serial 5061. It received its airworthiness certificate on December 17, 2004, and the FAA issued its registration to Radical Ventures LLC on January 3, 2006.

The FAA file still lists the model as a G-V, which adds to the confusion. That is because the G550 is certificated as the GV-SP: the same basic airframe as the Gulfstream V, with a new flight deck display system, aerodynamic and engine improvements, and the main entry door moved forward.

A range of 6,750 nautical miles lets the G550 cross the Atlantic or Pacific without a fuel stop. Its maximum operating speed of Mach 0.885 applies at 41,000 feet (12,500 m), and it can climb to 51,000 feet (15,500 m), well above airline traffic.

The purchase price has never been published. Our G550 page lists a 2019 price of $57 million for a new example, but Cuban’s jet was already about a year old when Radical Ventures registered it, so that figure is not what he paid.

In 2010, four years after the switch, Cuban told Business Jet Traveler he was “looking hard at upgrading.” Sixteen years later, the same G550 is still the only jet registered to his company. Gulfstream stopped building the G550 in 2021, so this airframe is now a 22-year-old example of a retired model.

The Gulfstream V That Set a Guinness World Record

Cuban described the purchase to Business Jet Traveler as almost casual. “I did the research at the Gulfstream Web site and then sent an e-mail and asked to set up a demo flight for my pilot,” he said.

“He raved about it. So I sent another e-mail saying I wanted to buy it. I got the banking instructions, wired the money and that was it.”

Mark Cuban, Business Jet Traveler, 2010

Flight International reported the sale in January 2000, valuing it at over $40 million. Gulfstream believed it was the largest transaction ever conducted over the internet, dwarfing the $22.9 million sale of a used GIV the previous October.

Guinness dates the purchase to October 1999 and still lists it as the largest single e-commerce transaction. It was not quite a factory-fresh jet, though. The FAA lists serial 549 as built in 1998, and registration histories show it with Waste Management before Gulfstream sold it to Cuban.

The Gulfstream V has a range of 6,500 nautical miles. Cuban said he chose Gulfstream after asking several pilots what they would love to fly and what they thought was the best airplane.

Registration histories show the jet registered to Cuban personally in April 2000, then to Radical Ventures as N718MC that July. In 2005 it went to Franklin Templeton Travel as N718MD and then N123FT. Since July 2025 the FAA lists N123FT under Mirada Manager GV LLC of Denver.

The Mavericks’ Boeing 757

Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks from Ross Perot Jr. in 2000 and quickly gave the team its own airliner. The aircraft is a Boeing 757-200, registered N801DM, first delivered to Iberia in August 1993.

Martin Woodall, Cuban’s co-founder at MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com, handled the purchase and refit. MLW Air, the charter company the two later founded, calls it the world’s first Boeing 757 charter jet in an all-first-class configuration.

Cuban treated the jet as a recruiting tool. He told Business Jet Traveler he asked for “room for players taller than seven feet, plus special setups for meetings, coaching resources, and video and connectivity resources.”

He declined to describe the cabin in detail. “That’s a trade secret. We don’t want other teams to find out. But it’s nice!” The same 2010 profile reported a weight room, oversized seats and a treatment area for trainers.

In December 2023 the NBA approved the sale of the Mavericks’ controlling interest to the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, with Patrick Dumont as the team’s governor. Cuban had agreed to sell his majority stake the month before.

In April 2025 the FAA registered N801DM to Parallel Express LLC of Las Vegas. The record does not say who stands behind that company. Some outlets have described the 757 as a parting gift from Cuban to the team, but no filing we could find shows how the jet changed hands.

The jet is still flying the team. In October 2025, Citadel Completions redelivered it after a four-month project at Lake Charles, Louisiana, that combined a full interior redesign with a heavy maintenance check.

The 767 Cuban Rented Out

By 2010 Cuban owned a third large aircraft. “I own the Boeing 757 for the Mavs and also a 767 we rent out for high-end charter,” he told Business Jet Traveler.

That jet was a Boeing 767-200, the 767-277 N767MW, built in 1982 and formerly flown by Ansett Australia. MLW Air, founded in 2007 by Woodall, Cuban and Robert Hart, refitted it as an all-first-class charter jet.

The cabin held 102 seats in a two-by-two-by-two layout, with 60 inches (152 cm) of pitch and recline to 156 degrees. In 2013 Atlas Air signed to provide crew, maintenance and insurance, and the flights were marketed to sports teams and entertainers.

Since April 2021, N767MW has been registered to Wyatt Aerospace LLC of Chandler, Arizona. Simple Flying reports that Wyatt specializes in teardowns, salvaging parts from retired airframes.

The Global 6000 Fleet Guides Still List

Most Mark Cuban private jet lists include a Bombardier Global 6000 registered N921MT. Simple Flying reported in March 2025 that Cuban bought it new in 2018 and that Radical Ventures still owned it.

The current register tells a different story. There is no N921MT on it. The same airframe, serial 9841, was registered as N555PV on December 31, 2025, to TVPX Aircraft Solutions as trustee.

An owner trust hides the beneficial owner by design. Cuban may have sold the jet or may simply have moved it behind a trustee. Either way, the public record no longer ties it to him, and any article that calls it his current jet is repeating an out-of-date listing.

Mark Cuban’s Case for Private Jets

Cuban has never been defensive about the cost. Buying a private jet “was my all-time goal,” he told Money in 2017, “because the asset I value the most is time, and that bought me time.”

He gave Business Jet Traveler concrete examples in 2010. “Flying out after a late-night game to be at a meeting the next morning. Leaving a meeting to get home in time for my daughter’s first daddy-daughter dance.”

The same interview landed in the wake of the Great Recession, when some business leaders had stopped flying business jets over the negative public perception. Cuban’s answer to them was blunt: “I get to work while they get to stand in line at the airport.”

He has also called the plane “brutally expensive,” and he offset some of that cost. In 2010 he chartered out the 757 when the team was not using it, though never the Gulfstream. “It definitely helps defray the costs, which I appreciate,” he said.

Mark Cuban’s Most Famous Private Jet Moments

Drunk-dialing American Airlines for a lifetime pass

Before any jet, there was the AAirpass. After selling MicroSolutions in 1990, Cuban called American Airlines during a night out to ask if they sold lifetime passes. “I called them up and just slurred my words,” he recalled in 2024.

He signed up the next morning, “hungover as hell,” for $125,000, then upgraded it. He later transferred the pass to his father and, after his father died, to a friend.

His first private flight: a Gulfstream II roadshow

Cuban first flew privately on the Broadcast.com IPO roadshow in 1998. “I definitely had that ‘party like a rock star’ look in my eyes,” he said of the Gulfstream II that carried the team through about 12 cities in seven days.

Flying with the team instead of his own jet

Owning a Gulfstream did not mean Cuban used it for road games. “I attend every game, and usually I fly with the team,” he said in 2010. “There’s no reason to spend the extra money to fly on my airplane.”

The 757 also kept him close to the roster. He said the shared flights gave him “a chance to talk to the players and the coaching staff.”

The Mexican presidential 787 he never bought

In early 2020, social media posts claimed Cuban had bought the José María Morelos y Pavón, the Boeing 787 that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had put up for sale. An aircraft broker posted that Cuban had swooped in and bought it for a few million dollars below the $126 million minimum price.

It was not true. Cuban confirmed to Forbes Mexico that he was not the buyer, and the story ran under the headline “Fake news.”

How Mark Cuban’s Jet Compares to Other Billionaires’

For a billionaire who once set a world record buying a jet, Cuban now flies one of the older aircraft in his peer group. The comparison below uses current FAA registrations.

Owner	Aircraft	Tail number	Built	Range
Mark Cuban	Gulfstream G550	N718MC	2004	6,750 NM
Michael Jordan	Gulfstream G650ER	N236MJ	2024	7,500 NM
Elon Musk	Gulfstream G650ER	N628TS	2015	7,500 NM

The fellow NBA figure is the sharpest contrast. Michael Jordan’s private jet is a 2024 Gulfstream G650ER, which outranges Cuban’s G550 by 750 nautical miles.

Elon Musk’s G650ER is 11 years younger than N718MC as well. Cuban has kept the same airframe for 20 years.

Where Cuban stands out is scale. In 2010 he owned three very different aircraft at once: a private Gulfstream, an NBA team’s 757 and a 102-seat widebody charter jet.

FAQ

Does Mark Cuban have a private jet?

Yes. Mark Cuban’s private jet is a 2004 Gulfstream G550, tail number N718MC, serial 5061, registered to his Dallas company Radical Ventures LLC. It is the only aircraft registered to that company in the FAA database as of October 2026.

What is Mark Cuban's private jet tail number?

Mark Cuban’s tail number is N718MC. The registration has been used on two different jets: the Gulfstream V he bought online in 1999, and since January 2006 the Gulfstream G550 he flies today.

How much did Mark Cuban pay for his private jet?

Cuban paid $40 million for his first jet, a Gulfstream V, in October 1999. The price of the Gulfstream G550 he flies today has never been published.

Did Mark Cuban really buy a jet online?

Yes. Cuban researched the Gulfstream V on Gulfstream’s website, arranged a demo flight for his pilot by email, then emailed to buy it and wired the money. Guinness World Records lists the $40 million purchase in October 1999 as the largest single e-commerce transaction.

Does Mark Cuban still own the Dallas Mavericks plane?

Not on the public record. The team’s Boeing 757, N801DM, has been registered to Parallel Express LLC of Las Vegas since April 2025, and the filing does not name the people behind it. Cuban sold control of the Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families in December 2023.

Does Mark Cuban own a Bombardier Global 6000?

Not according to the current FAA register. The Global 6000 that fleet guides list as his, N921MT, was re-registered as N555PV on December 31, 2025, to TVPX Aircraft Solutions as trustee, which keeps the owner’s name private.

Did Mark Cuban buy Mexico's presidential plane?

No. In 2020, social media posts claimed Cuban had bought the Mexican presidential Boeing 787, but he confirmed to Forbes Mexico that he was not the buyer.

How far can Mark Cuban's private jet fly?

Mark Cuban’s Gulfstream G550 has a range of 6,750 nautical miles, enough to cross the Atlantic or Pacific nonstop. It has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.885 and a ceiling of 51,000 feet.