Mark Cuban congratulates Donald Trump on his election victory

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban has congratulated Donald Trump as results show the former president is on track to win the US presidential election.

On X, formerly Twitter, Cuban wrote: “Congratulations Donald Trump. They won fair and square. Congratulations also to Elon Musk.”

Cuban was one of Kamala Harris' most vocal supporters, while billionaire Musk was a key Trump supporter.

At the time of writing, the Associated Press has cast 267 Electoral College votes for Trump, just shy of the 270 needed for a victory.

Cuban, a billionaire investor and former “Shark Tank” host, has been on the campaign trail with Harris in recent weeks and has made multiple media appearances to advocate for the vice president.

He previously described the election as not between the two presidential candidates, but between Harris and Musk, the owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX.

“Elon is the main actor for the Republicans. And that’s what this race has been about over the last two weeks,” Cuban previously told Fortune.

Cuban revealed in an interview last month the pivotal moment that turned him away from Trump, whom he initially supported during the 2016 Republican primary campaign.

When appearing on the podcast Stay updated with PreetAt the event, moderated by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, Cuban said he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Trump's approach as the campaign progressed.

He indicated that he found Trump's rhetoric to be divisive and manipulative, qualities he said were at odds with the leadership values ​​he admired.

“I remember asking him, 'If you win this thing, you have to decide whether people could live or die based on your decision.' He didn’t answer,” Cuban told Bharara.

“There was a debate that he didn’t take part in. It was on CNBC. I ask myself, 'Why don't you take this opportunity to visit stores and let them know you know the business?' He says, “Mark, Mark Cuban and Donald Trump don't go to people's houses or dinner tables to have dinner with them.” And I say, “But you do.” “He didn't see that coming,” continued Cuban.

The billionaire also attributed his change in perspective to Trump's public statements and tweets, which he said sowed division rather than promoted unity.

“When I tried to get other things out of him that had to do with politics, there was just nothing there. The more he spoke out, the more obvious it became, the more the immigration issues came to light, and the more hateful things came to light. This.” “I just turned around,” he said.