By Snejana Farberov

|

The owner of the Dallas Mavericks got caught up in the hype surrounding the Facebook IPO launch a month ago and snapped up 150,000 of the social media giant's shares, but the excitement was short-lived.

Today, the gregarious self-made billionaire announced that he sold all of his shares after admitting that he took a hit in the market. 

‘My thesis was wrong,' Cuban said in a CNBC interview. ‘I thought we’d get a quick bounce just with some excitement about the stock. I was wrong, and when you’re wrong you don’t wait, you just get out. I took a beating and left.’

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced that he sold his stake in Facebook after losing money on his investment

Cut & run: Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced that he sold his stake in Facebook after losing money on his investment

Late last month, Cuban disclosed on his blog that he had bought nearly $5million worth of Facebook shares in three separate purchases, the Wall Street Journal reported.

He said he purchased 50,000 shares at $33, another 50,000 at $31.97 and 50,000 at $32.50. All three investments are currently underwater.

On Tuesday, Facebook was up 4.2 per cent at $31.26, but still down about 18 per cent from its $38 IPO price. It means that at the current price, Cuban lost nearly $200,000 on his investment.

At the time of the IPO launch, Cuban described the move as ‘a trade, not an investment’ and compared it to trading baseball cards.

Shares of Facebook are down 21 per cent from the initial $38-a-share price

Downward spiral: Shares of Facebook are down 21 per cent from the initial $38-a-share price

Facebook made its debut on the stock market on May 18 with an opening price of $38, but it only rose to $38.23 by the end of the trading day

Bad start: Facebook made its debut on the stock market on May 18 with an opening price of $38, but it only rose to $38.23 by the end of the trading day

Facebook was up 4.2 per cent at $31.26 on Tuesday

Current: Facebook was up 4.2 per cent at $31.26 on Tuesday

The loss, however, is just a drop in the bucket for the 53-year-Cuban, whose net worth stands at $2.3billion, and who is the 188th richest person in the U.S., according to Forbes.

‘It was gambling money, to be honest with you,’ he said on Monday. ‘Any time you try to time the market, you get what you deserve. Sometimes you’re right. Sometimes you’re wrong. This time I was wrong.’

Facebook’s trading debut got off to an inauspicious start after being marred by technical glitches on the Nasdaq Stock Market that delayed the launch by several hours, leaving many investors confused over whether their orders to buy and sell shares had been fulfilled.

The stock’s steep decline over its first month of trading left it as the worst-performing IPO of $1billion or more for a U.S.-based company, according to Dealogic.

Cuban admitted that his thesis on Facebook's IPO was wrong, which caused him to take a hit

In the red: Cuban admitted that his thesis on Facebook's IPO was wrong, which caused him to take a hit

Larger than life: The gregarious businessman is the 188th richest person in the U.S. with a net worth of $2.3billion

Cuban says much of the decline is due to basic supply and demand issues. Days before pricing the IPO, Facebook boosted the number of shares to 421 million shares, which the Mavericks owner deemed a big mistake.

By comparison, the networking site LinkedIn issued only 8.4million shares when it debuted last year. The stock more than doubled during its first day of trading.

‘If Facebook did the same, the stock would be at about $200 right now,’ Cuban said.

The brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg also faces increased criticism of how it plans to monetize its mobile platform.

Facebook's Nasdaq debut last month was plagued by technical difficulties that left many investors confused about the status of their orders

Botched: Facebook's Nasdaq debut last month was plagued by technical difficulties that left many investors confused about the status of their orders

Cuban slammed Facebook for boosting the size of the IPO to 421 million shares

Critic: Cuban slammed Facebook for boosting the size of the IPO to 421 million shares

Cuban, who co-founded and sold start-ups like Broadcast.com and MicroSolutions, acknowledged that the mobile space is huge, but it's an issue every Internet company will have to grapple with.

‘It's not just Facebook, like some people are trying to make it sound, it's Google, how do they get out ads? It's Zynga, it's everybody dealing with the same issues.’ Cuban said. ‘If Facebook can't do it, everybody else has the same risk and the same problem.’