First the NBA championship, now this.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was revealed as the 2011 CEO of the Year by D CEO magazine last night, at an event hosted by SMU’s Cox School of Business. It’s a peer-recognition award, selected by hundreds of North Texas CEOs who participated in SMU’s annual CEO Sentiment Survey.
In a December issue D CEO profile, Cuban said he loves “the Sport of Business. It is the ultimate competition, and I think any CEO can relate to the idea that if you love what you do, the rest is easy.”
Cuban also said consistency was key to the Mavericks’ success this year: “We stuck with the same approach that had gotten us close so many times, and trusted that we were doing the right thing. In the sports business, with all the media scrutiny and attention, that is often not easy to do.”
He had planned to accept the award in person, but about four hours before the event, sent word that he was stuck in New York due to “a little negotiation process.” He issued this statement instead:
“Thank you D CEO Magazine, SMU and all the presenting sponsors for this award. A CEO is only as good as the people around him. So each of the many people who are part of the Mavericks organization deserve this award as much as I do.
“I truly wish I could be with you to accept this, but there is a little negotiation process that I can’t talk about but need to be part of tonight.
“I love being the owner of the Mavericks and I especially want to thank my staff for their hard work and dedication! MFFL!”
The event also featured a report from Miguel A. Quiñones, who, along with Robert Rasberry, heads up the annual CEO Sentiment Survey for SMU. (Briefly: Most DFW CEOs, 62.3 percent, expect revenue to increase in 2012. Overall, about 90 percent say the DFW economy will stay the same or improve next year. The CEOs said their top three challenges are sustaining a competitive advantage, attracting and retaining good employees, and meeting quarterly earning expectations.)
The invite-only event was attended by a number of execs who were featured this year in D CEO, including Jack Matthews of Matthews Southwest (developer of the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel), Steve Ivy of Heritage Auctions, Adrian Barfield of Cardinal Health, Gary Cogill of Lascaux Films, and Linda McMahon of The Real Estate Council. Thanks to event title sponsor Infiniti, as well as Deloitte, HUB International, PURE, and Russell Reynolds.
(Dallas Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, who was unable to attend the event as he was in Chicago, shared his thoughts on his boss’ award this morning with RealPoints.)
