Mark Harris

Topline

Billionaire Mark Cuban, the co-founder of online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs, sparked blowback Monday for appearing with President Donald Trump at a White House event to announce an expansion of the TrumpRx platform, later deleting an X post defending his appearance that suggested anyone who “thinks I’m going to put politics ahead of helping Americans reduce their cost of healthcare and pharmaceuticals” is a “f—-- idiot.”

Key Facts

News Peg

Trump announced a major expansion of his TrumpRx website—a service that doesn’t sell drugs, but partners with manufacturers to find lower costs for consumers. The platform will now list over 600 generic drugs by partnering with Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx. “This is a special announcement, this is a special partnership—559 of those drugs are ours, so we’re really excited to be part of this,” Cuban said during his brief remarks at the press conference. In addition to announcing the new TrumpRx expansion, the president used the press conference to answer questions about the Iran war and defended his administration’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as “very well received.”

Crucial Quote

“Tell me one person who thinks that healthcare economics are well run in this country,” Cuban tweeted in his now-deleted post. “It’s the biggest affordability issue.”

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Cuban’s net worth at $6 billion, making him the 683rd-wealthiest person in the world as of Monday evening. Cuban, the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, entered the online pharmacy business in January 2022.

Further Reading