Dan Gilbert
Encyclopedia
Daniel "Dan" Gilbert is the chairman and founder of Quicken Loans
Inc., the majority owner of the National Basketball Association
's Cleveland Cavaliers
and American Hockey League
's Lake Erie Monsters
, and operator of the Quicken Loans Arena
in Cleveland, Ohio
.
In 2000, software maker Intuit Inc.
purchased Rock Financial. The national web operation was renamed "Quicken Loans
" and grew substantially as the leading provider of direct-to-consumer home loans on the Internet, offering mortgages in all 50 states. Gilbert remained at the company as its CEO. In 2002, he led a small group of private investors and purchased Quicken Loans
and its affiliated national title company, Title Source, Inc., back from Intuit. To this day, Gilbert continues to serve as the chairman of Quicken Loans
Inc.
In 2010, Quicken Loans
moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its team members to downtown Detroit, where Gilbert and the company are helping lead a revitalization of Detroit’s urban core. The company plans to move another 2,000 team members from the suburbs to the city over the next 12 months.
in March 2005 and undertook a complete overhaul of the front office, coaching staff, player personnel and game presentation.
On July 8, 2010, NBA basketball player LeBron James
announced to the world that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers
for the Miami Heat
on a highly criticized ESPN
television special dubbed, "The Decision." Following the special, Gilbert published an open letter
to Cleveland Cavaliers
fans on the team's website in Comic Sans
font, in which he strongly criticized how James made his announcement.
On July 12, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern
fined Gilbert $100,000 for his remarks in the letter. Though some members of the media criticized Gilbert for this letter, many Cleveland Cavaliers
fans embraced him for it and even offered to pay for the fine. Gilbert instead insisted to donate the money to charity.
, Protect America, Ready Financial
, One on One Marketing, Connect America and One Reverse Mortgage.
In addition, Gilbert is a principal of Detroit Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that funds start-up and early-stage technology companies in Detroit.
Gilbert is also invested and involved in the operation of several consumer-based technology-centered businesses, including Fathead
, Veritix, Xenith, ePrize
, StyleCaster and Quizzle
.
In November 2009, Gilbert and a group of partners successfully backed a state-wide referendum to bring casino
gaming to Ohio
’s four largest cities. Through a joint venture with Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the groups are developing and will operate urban-based casinos in both Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Gilbert launched Bizdom U in 2007. The non-profit entrepreneurial academy trains, mentors and finances business builders in their start-up enterprises in the city of etroit.
Gilbert serves on the boards of the Cleveland Clinic
, the Children’s Hospital Foundation, an affiliate of the Washington D.C.-based Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC), and the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its team members to downtown Detroit in August 2010, where Gilbert and the company are helping lead a revitalization of Detroit’s urban core.
In January 2011, Gilbert purchased the historic Madison Theatre Building located in downtown Detroit. In April 2011, he purchased Chase Tower
, a building located in Detroit's central business district, and Two Detroit Center, a parking garage located just a couple of blocks away. Just a few months later in September 2011, Gilbert purchased the Dime Building
and the First National Building
, both skyscrapers in Detroit's Financial District.
When Quicken Loans
and its family of companies complete their occupancy of both the Madison Theatre Building and Chase Tower
, it will employ approximately 4,000 full-time team members in downtown Detroit.
. He earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University
, a Juris Doctor
from Wayne State University Law School
and is a member of the State Bar of Michigan
. Gilbert was named one of the Forbes 400
in the magazine’s 2006 rankings. He resides in Michigan with his wife and their five children.
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
Inc., the majority owner of the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
and American Hockey League
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
's Lake Erie Monsters
Lake Erie Monsters
The Lake Erie Monsters are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They began play in the 2007–08 AHL season at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio...
, and operator of the Quicken Loans Arena
Quicken Loans Arena
Quicken Loans Arena , is a multi-purpose arena, in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States....
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
Quicken Loans
Gilbert founded Rock Financial in 1985. The company grew into one of the largest independent mortgage lenders in the country and in the late 1990s, launched its Internet strategy and quickly positioned itself as the fastest growing direct mortgage lender on the Internet.In 2000, software maker Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. is an American software company that develops financial and tax preparation software and related services for small businesses, accountants and individuals...
purchased Rock Financial. The national web operation was renamed "Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
" and grew substantially as the leading provider of direct-to-consumer home loans on the Internet, offering mortgages in all 50 states. Gilbert remained at the company as its CEO. In 2002, he led a small group of private investors and purchased Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
and its affiliated national title company, Title Source, Inc., back from Intuit. To this day, Gilbert continues to serve as the chairman of Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
Inc.
In 2010, Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its team members to downtown Detroit, where Gilbert and the company are helping lead a revitalization of Detroit’s urban core. The company plans to move another 2,000 team members from the suburbs to the city over the next 12 months.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Gilbert became majority owner of the Cleveland CavaliersCleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
in March 2005 and undertook a complete overhaul of the front office, coaching staff, player personnel and game presentation.
On July 8, 2010, NBA basketball player LeBron James
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...
announced to the world that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
for the Miami Heat
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
on a highly criticized ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
television special dubbed, "The Decision." Following the special, Gilbert published an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
to Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
fans on the team's website in Comic Sans
Comic Sans
Comic Sans MS is a casual script typeface modeled on fonts used in American comic books for several decades. Sans is short for sans-serif. The modern Comic Sans was designed by Vincent Connare and released in 1994 by Microsoft Corporation...
font, in which he strongly criticized how James made his announcement.
On July 12, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern
David Stern
David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...
fined Gilbert $100,000 for his remarks in the letter. Though some members of the media criticized Gilbert for this letter, many Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
fans embraced him for it and even offered to pay for the fine. Gilbert instead insisted to donate the money to charity.
Other businesses and investments
Gilbert is a founding partner in private equity group Rockbridge Growth Equity LLC (RBE). The partnership invests in growing businesses in the financial services, Internet technology, consumer-direct marketing, and the sports and entertainment industries. RBE has significant investments in Northcentral UniversityNorthcentral University
Northcentral University is a private, for-profit, accredited university based in Prescott Valley, Arizona, that offers distance education. It was established in 1996 and is currently owned by Rockbridge Growth Equity, LLC, Falcon Investments, LLC, and the school's founder, Donald Hecht...
, Protect America, Ready Financial
Ready Financial
Ready Financial, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is the creator of the ReadyDebit Visa Inc. prepaid debit card and online bill payment and check writing service. Ready Financial was founded by Will Tumulty and has received substantial investments by private equity group Rockbridge Growth Equity LLC,...
, One on One Marketing, Connect America and One Reverse Mortgage.
In addition, Gilbert is a principal of Detroit Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that funds start-up and early-stage technology companies in Detroit.
Gilbert is also invested and involved in the operation of several consumer-based technology-centered businesses, including Fathead
Fathead (brand)
Fathead is a brand name of life-sized, precision cut vinyl wall graphics manufactured by Fathead LLC. Fathead LLC is a privately-held company based in Detroit, Michigan. The ownership group is led by Dan Gilbert, who is chairman and founder of Quicken Loans, and also Majority Owner of the...
, Veritix, Xenith, ePrize
EPrize
ePrize is a Michigan-based company that creates promotional campaigns ranging from online sweepstakes to points-based loyalty programs.-History:ePrize was founded in 1999 by Josh Linkner...
, StyleCaster and Quizzle
Quizzle
Quizzle.com, a Detroit-based website, is the first company to give consumers free access to their credit score. Quizzle provides consumers with CE credit score based on an Experian credit report. The CE Score was developed by CE Analytics. Using Quizzle, consumers can update their credit scores...
.
In November 2009, Gilbert and a group of partners successfully backed a state-wide referendum to bring casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
gaming to Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
’s four largest cities. Through a joint venture with Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the groups are developing and will operate urban-based casinos in both Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Gilbert launched Bizdom U in 2007. The non-profit entrepreneurial academy trains, mentors and finances business builders in their start-up enterprises in the city of etroit.
Gilbert serves on the boards of the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic
The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
, the Children’s Hospital Foundation, an affiliate of the Washington D.C.-based Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC), and the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
Detroit initiatives
Quicken LoansQuicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its team members to downtown Detroit in August 2010, where Gilbert and the company are helping lead a revitalization of Detroit’s urban core.
In January 2011, Gilbert purchased the historic Madison Theatre Building located in downtown Detroit. In April 2011, he purchased Chase Tower
Chase Tower (Detroit)
Chase Tower is a high-rise office building located at 611 Woodward Avenue, in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1959 and stands at 14 floors in height. It was designed in the modern architectural style, and uses a great deal of marble to coordinate with the buildings in the nearby Civic...
, a building located in Detroit's central business district, and Two Detroit Center, a parking garage located just a couple of blocks away. Just a few months later in September 2011, Gilbert purchased the Dime Building
Dime Building
The Dime Building is a skyscraper class-A office building located in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is adjacent to the Penobscot Building in the heart of the Detroit Financial District. The building stands 23 stories tall, with eight elevators, and was constructed between 1910 and 1912. It is used...
and the First National Building
First National Building
The First National Building is an skycraper and class-A office center in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Completed in 1930, the structure rises 25 stories and includes two basement levels, occupying an entire block along Cadillac Square . Located within the Detroit Financial District, the tower's main...
, both skyscrapers in Detroit's Financial District.
When Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans Inc., headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is the largest online mortgage lender and the 5th largest retail mortgage lender overall in the USA. The company consists of the QuickenLoans.com online lending site, the Rock Financial brand in southeast Michigan, One Reverse Mortgage, based...
and its family of companies complete their occupancy of both the Madison Theatre Building and Chase Tower
Chase Tower (Detroit)
Chase Tower is a high-rise office building located at 611 Woodward Avenue, in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1959 and stands at 14 floors in height. It was designed in the modern architectural style, and uses a great deal of marble to coordinate with the buildings in the nearby Civic...
, it will employ approximately 4,000 full-time team members in downtown Detroit.
Personal life
Gilbert was born in Detroit, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...
and is a member of the State Bar of Michigan
State Bar of Michigan
The State Bar of Michigan is an organization of lawyers in the State of Michigan. Membership is mandatory for attorneys who practice law in the state of Michigan...
. Gilbert was named one of the Forbes 400
Forbes 400
The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by Forbes Magazine magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September, and 2010 marks the 29th issue. The 400 was started by Malcom Forbes in 1982 and treats those in the list like...
in the magazine’s 2006 rankings. He resides in Michigan with his wife and their five children.