Cuban Strikes Out Without Swinging

Mark Cuban is not only facing insider trading charges by the SEC. He's also facing the fact that he will not be the next owner of the Chicago Cubs.

At least, that's how things looked at the end of the day yesterday, the deadline to submit bids to buy the Cubs from Sam Zell's Tribune Company. Five bidders, including Cuban, had been invited to participate in the auction. In the end, three offers came in, but Cuban's was notably not among them.

Earlier this year, the internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner was enthusiastic about potentially becoming the Cubs next owner, but his interest had waned in recent months, according to an anonymous source quoted in the Chicago Tribune today.

It's not clear if Cuban walked away from the opportunity on his own or was effectively shut out. Last month, the SEC charged Cuban with illegally trading shares of an internet search firm in 2004 after he received non-public information about a forthcoming equity offering. He has denied the charges.

But Cuban may have backed off because the Major League Baseball discouraged his bid. In early November, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that baseball commissioner Bud Selig and the other owners would not let Cuban win, citing an anonymous source who said there was "zero chance" of it. The new Cubs owner must be approved by a majority of baseball owners.

Cuban remains mum about the Cubs bid on his blog. Instead, his focus remains on the SEC, with his most recent post centered on a recent inspector general report about potential insider trading among its own employees.

Meanwhile, the next owner of the Cubs will likely be one of these three financiers: Tom Ricketts, son of the founder of TD Ameritrade, Hersch Klaff, a real estate investor, or private equity partners Mark Utay and Leo Hindery.

by Megan Barnett