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Thursday, February 18, 2010
featuring:
DAN GILBERT, Founder & Chairman, Quicken Loans / Majority Owner, Cleveland Cavaliers
moderator:
STEVE GLEYDURA, Editor, Inside Business & Cleveland Magazine
DAN GILBERT is chairman and founder of Quicken Loans, Inc., the nation’s largest online home lender.
Dan is also majority owner of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters, and is the operator of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Quicken Loans closed $15 billion in home loan volume through the first half of 2009. The company employs nearly 3,000 people nationally and has been ranked in the Top 30 of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” the past six years (ranking as high as #2). The company also has been ranked as one of Computerworld Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work in Technology” the past five years, ranking #1 in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Dan founded Rock Financial in 1985. Rock Financial grew into one of the largest independent mortgage lenders in the country. In 1998, the company went public in an IPO led by Bear Stearns, Inc. Soon after, Rock launched its Internet strategy and quickly positioned itself as the fastest growing online direct mortgage lender on the Internet.
In January 2000, software maker Intuit purchased Rock Financial and the national online lending business was renamed “Quicken Loans.” With Dan as CEO, Quicken Loans became the leading national provider of home loans on the Internet. QuickenLoans.com has gone on to earn “Best of the Web” accolades from Forbes, Money and PC Magazine.
In 2002, Dan and a small group of private investors purchased Quicken Loans Inc. from Intuit; Quicken Loans has been privately held since that time and retains all rights to the ‘Quicken Loans, Inc.’ trademarks.
Dan became majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers in March 2005 and immediately undertook a complete overhaul of the front office, coaching staff, player personnel and game presentation. In addition, the ownership group invested $30 million to make the Quicken Loans Arena (known as “The Q”), a state-of-the–art sports venue.
During Dan’s ownership, the Cavaliers won the 2007 Eastern Conference Championship by beating the Detroit Pistons, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in the 37-year history of the franchise. The team finished the 2008-2009 regular season with a franchise record and NBA-leading 66 wins and the Cavaliers are currently the only team in the NBA to advance past the first round of the playoffs in each of the prior four seasons.
Dan is a founding partner in private equity group Rockbridge Growth Equity LLC. The partnership invests in growing businesses in the financial services, Internet technology, consumer-direct marketing, and the sports and entertainment sectors.
In 2007 Dan launched Bizdom U in Detroit. The non-profit boot camp trains, mentors and finances young entrepreneurs and their start-up businesses in the city of Detroit. Bizdom U’s mission is to create successful businesses, jobs, growth and wealth in large urban cities.
Dan and his partners also operate and invest in several consumer-based, technology-centered businesses, including: online promotions company ePrize, based in Pleasant Ridge, Mich.; Fathead LLC in Livonia, Mich.; Northcentral University (add location); StyleCaster in New York City; Veritix in Cleveland, Ohio; Boston-based Xenith LLC; and Xeko in Seattle, Wash. ; and Ready Financial in Boise, Idaho.
In 2009, Dan also invested in Quizzle.com, an Internet-based financial management tool that allows consumers to manage their home, money and credit online. The Quizzle site gives consumers access to their credit reports and scores and provides online budgeting tools.
In November 2009, through his Rock Ventures partnership, Dan successfully backed a proposal to authorize first-class casinos in Ohio’s four largest cities. The effort will create 34,000 jobs in the state of Ohio and will generate millions of dollars in new tax revenues annually for public services, safety and schools. The casinos are expected to be operational by early 2012. He also is an investor and financier with Rock Companies in residential and commercial real estate developments in several states.
Quicken Loans also is the lead sponsor of Rock Financial Junior Achievement Finance Park in downtown Detroit, a program that teaches school-age children about money and finance.
Gilbert serves on the boards of the Cleveland Clinic, the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the Children’s Tumor Foundation in New York City and the Business Leaders for Michigan. He is a former president of JARC, based in suburban Detroit.
Gilbert earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and his law degree from Wayne State University. He has received the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Ernst & Young and has been inducted into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame.
STEVE GLEYDURA is the editor of Cleveland Magazine and Inside Business Magazine. Now in his second stint as editor at Inside Business, Steve joined the company in 1999. In 2001, he became editor of Cleveland Magazine and rejoined Inside Business last year. Under his direction, Cleveland Magazine has earned two national Eddie Awards from Folio magazine and numerous statewide honors, including best magazine in Ohio in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Steve is a 1992 graduate of John Carroll University and lives in West Park with his wife, Kathleen, and three children.
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