Dan Gilbert Net Worth & Biography

Popular Name:	Dan Gilbert
Real Name:	Daniel Gilbert
Birth Date:	January 17, 1962
Birth Place:	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Age:	59
Gender:	Male
Nationality/Citizenship:	American
Height:	N/A
Weight:	N/A
Sexuality:	Straight
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse(s):	Jennifer Gilbert
Children:	5
Profession:	Businessman, Investor, Entrepreneur
Years active:	N/A
Net Worth:	$40 Billion
Last Updated:	2021

Dan Gilbert is an American self-made billionaire. He is a businessman and entrepreneur who made his wealth as the founder and chief executive officer of Quicken Loans. Following the company’s acquisition by Intuit Inc., a business outfit that also created TurboTax and QuickBooks, the company was renamed from Rock Financial to its current name.

Quicken Loans is now operated under the umbrella company of Rocket Companies, which was reported to have generated $900 million in net income and $5.1 billion in revenue in 2019. Rocket Companies also posted $124 billion in new mortgages in the first half of 2020 alone. He continues to work at Rocket as the company chairman.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Daniel Gilbert in Detroit, Michigan, the United States on January 17, 1962, and was raised in a Jewish family in Southfield, Michigan.

Dan schooled at Southfield-Lathrup High School and later earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. After graduating from the University, he advanced to Wayne State University Law School and bagged his Juris Doctor, before becoming a member of the Michigan State Bar. It is important to note that during his time in college, Gilbert obtained his realtor’s license and worked at his family’s real estate firm while he was in law school.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

In 1985, Dan Gilbert, 22 years old at that time, saw a huge potential in the rising mortgage origination industry. He seized this opportunity and started a small mortgage company which he named Rock Financial. Without any external help or sponsors, he founded the said company with his younger brother Gary Gilbert and partners Ron Berman and Lindsay Gross. The mortgage company turned out an instant success, surpassing banking institutions like Wells Fargo. Fourteen years later, Rock Financial was sold by its founders to Intuit for the sum of $532 million. In 2002, Dan paid only $64 million to buy back the company which had been renamed Quicken Loans, pocketing a profit of $468 million.

In 2010, Dan Gilbert moved the company’s headquarters and all of its 1,700 employees to Downtown Detroit. Dan owns 79 percent of the company’s voting shares. He has made several other investments and acquisitions in the bankrupt city of Detroit, including his purchase of Greektown Casino and Hotel for $600 million.

Rocket Companies IPO’d on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2020, and the share price jumped 20 percent in its first hours of trading. Dan owns 95 percent of Rocket’s equity, meaning that at the company’s $38 billion market cap, his stake was worth $36.5 billion. When combined with the rest of his assets, on the day the Rocket went public, Dan Gilbert’s net worth topped $42 billion, instantly listing him among the 30 wealthiest people in the world and the 20 wealthiest people in America at that level.

Dan also became directly involved in the sports industry where he has made heavy investments up till now. In 2005, he acquired a majority stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers team of the NBA for $375 million. Two years prior to that, the team had drafted a high school superstar named LeBron James. Dan wanted to transform the team into something no one had imagined. He appointed a new general manager and a head coach, and soon after that, the professional basketball team went on to make five consecutive playoffs from 2006 to 2010.

Dan Gilbert Net Worth — Quicken Loans Founder, Dan Gilbert

LeBron James left the Cavs for the Miami Heat in 2010. However, he returned to the team in 2014 after four years of vocal criticism from Gilbert who did as much as composing an open letter in condemnation of the player. By the time LeBron returned to the side, he had already won two NBA championships in Miami in 2012 and 2013. LeBron helped the Cavs make four consecutive finals appearances from 2015 to 2018, all against the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs won the Championship 2016 as the first title in the team’s history.

Two years after purchasing his first sports franchise, Dan Gilbert purchased the Utah Grizzlies in 2007. The Grizzlies were a dormant American Hockey League franchise, and he moved it to Cleveland and renamed it the Lake Erie Monsters. He later changed its name once more to the Cleveland Monsters in 2016.

Other sports acquisitions he has made include the New Mexico Thunderbirds (now renamed Canton Charge) from the NBA G League and the Arena Football League team called Cleveland Gladiators.

Philanthropy

In 2012, Dan and his wife signed “The Giving Pledge”, committing 50 percent or more of their wealth during their lifetimes or after their demise to charity. The Giving Pledge was launched by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010.

Inspired by his son’s neurofibromatosis, Dan Gilbert founded Neurofibromatosis research centers at Tel Aviv’s Dana Children’s Hospital and Washington, D.C.’s Children’s National Medical Center.

He is a board member of the Children’s Tumor Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic, and the Children’s Hospital Foundation. He is the vice chairman of the M-1 RAIL program, which sponsors public transportation in downtown Detroit.

In 2016, the businessman gave a $5 million gift to Wayne State University Law School. He also donated $15 million to the Breslin Center renovation project at Michigan State University.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

As the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan and the team won the NBA championship title in 2016 and were the recipients of the tournament’s Best Team ESPY Award.

Along with his Cleveland Monsters hockey team, Dan lifted the Calder Cup in his second season in charge.

His company, Quicken Loans, has been named by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for on seventeen different occasions. The mortgaging company has also won the JD Power Highest Customer Satisfaction Award a total of 17 times.

Personal Life: Marriage, Children, Private Interests

Dan Gilbert has been married to his wife, Jennifer, for several decades now. They have five children together. Their oldest, Nick, has undergone surgery and chemotherapy several times due to a neurological condition called neurofibromatosis.

In May 2019, Dan suffered a stroke and had to spend several days in the hospital. The stroke caused temporary paralysis in his left leg and arm, and he had seven stents implanted in his carotid artery.

Dan Gilbert Net Worth: Earnings, Income Sources, Assets

Best known for owning the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters, the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, and NBA G League’s Canton Charge, Dan Gilbert’s net worth is currently pegged at $40 billion. He founded and controls the American mortgaging company Quicken Loans as its chairman. To also mention, he is the chair of JACK Entertainment, an establishment that has owned and managed several casinos.

In 2020, Golden Crate LLC, which is connected to Dan Gilbert, acquired two Palm Beach mansions. The LLC spent $18.75 million on purchasing a 5,000 square foot home and $24.5 million for an 11,000 square foot estate.