Cuban tempers talk after insider trading charge

By Robert MacMillan and Ben Klayman

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made his fortune on the Internet, and made his name by sharing his blunt opinions, both courtside and online.

But after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with insider trading on Monday, he was more subdued.

"I wish I could say more, but I will have to leave it to this," Cuban, 50, wrote on his website, blogmaverick.com, the words of a man heeding the advice of his lawyers.

Then comes a flash of the fire he is known for: "I am disappointed that the commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff's win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff's process was result-oriented, facts be damned."

The SEC said Cuban illegally traded shares of Canadian Internet search firm Mamma.com ahead of a public stock offering in 2004 to avoid more than $750.000 in losses. He said the case had no merit and he would contest the allegation.

Cuban, who grew up in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area, rose to prominence with a well-timed sale of the Broadcast.com website to Yahoo Inc for about $5 billion just before the dot-com crash.

With an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion, he ranks as the 161st richest American on the Forbes 400 list. He occupies a far higher rank when it comes to being outspoken.

In 2006, Cuban let loose with a jab against online video website YouTube, telling a group of advertisers in New York that only a moron would buy it. Google Inc later bought YouTube for $1.65 billion.