Karen Davidson Net Worth & Biography

Karen Davidson is an American businesswoman who is currently ranked as one of the wealthiest women in the United States. She is the former owner of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association, a team she inherited when her spouse William Morse Davidson passed away back in 2009. Her husband, William, was the president, chairman, and chief executive officer of Guardian Industries which produced automotive and architectural glass. He was also the majority owner of the Detroit Pistons basketball team. Upon his demise, his wife, Karen Davidson, sold all of his assets and holdings which included the Pistons.

Life & Businesses

Karen and William Davidson tied the knot in the United States in 1995. She was born in the United States into an American family, and also completed her education within the country. Before her marriage to William, she was formerly married to Paul Reaser. She is a mother of three daughters including actress Elizabeth Reaser.

In the year 2011, Karen sold Palace Sports and Entertainment to Platinum Equity founder Tom Gores for $425 million.

About the Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are a known American professional basketball team based in Detroit. They compete in the National Basketball Association and play their home games at Little Caesars Arena in Midtown. Founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana State in 1937 as a semi-professional basketball team called the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, they turned pro in 1941 as a member of the country’s National Basketball League where they won two NBL championships consecutively in 1944 and 1945. The Pistons later joined the Basketball Association of America in 1948. The NBL and BAA eventually combined in 1949 to become the NBA, and the Pistons became a part of the newly merged league. The franchise moved to Detroit in 1957. To date, the Pistons have won three NBA titles: in 1989, 1990, and 2004.

Widow of late Detroit Pistons owner battled her daughter over control on how to utilize more than one billion dollars of his estate.

After his passing, William Davidson’s wife, Karen, and son Ethan pitted against Karen’s daughter from a previous marriage, Mary, and her husband Jonathan Aaron. The charity’s board couldn’t reach an agreement on how to spend the almost 1 billion dollars in funds – or even who should serve on the board. Mary and her husband Jonathan Aaron sought to split the Foundation in two, while Karen and Ethan demanded that the Foundation remains one entity. The two sides accused each other of wasting time and money. Making matters more complicated, all four were on the Foundation’s board at the time, and Jonathan Aaron was the Foundation’s president.

William Davidson died a billionaire president, chairman, and chief executive officer of Guardian Industries, as well as the owner of the Detroit Pistons basketball team. He was also a noted philanthropist and established the Foundation shortly before his demise at 86 in 2009 with the intention of supporting Jewish organizations and aiding the city of Detroit, among other causes. Since it was founded, the Foundation has given several millions of dollars to numerous causes such as the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science in New York, the University of Texas, and the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit. In 2012 alone, the Foundation spent more than $46 million in charitable contributions.

Karen Davidson was William Davidson’s fourth wife. Ethan Davidson, 42, is the son of late billionaire William Davidson. He is a musician and philanthropist as well.

According to Free Press Detroit, after the William Davidson Foundation board hired a consulting firm to review how much Jonathan Aaron earned in 2009 (around $320,000), the board unanimously voted to reduce his annual earnings to $125,000. This led to increased frictions within the Foundation and was one of the many reasons why Jonathan and his wife Mary decided that the foundation be split.

Karen Davidson Net Worth: Income Sources, Assets, Wealth Details

Ms. Karen Davidson is a known American businesswoman whose net worth is currently estimated at $3.5 billion. Formerly, she owned and single-handedly controlled the National Basketball Association’s Detroit Pistons before she sold it off in addition to other assets she inherited from her late husband William Morse Davidson when he passed away in 2009. William acquired his wealth from handling different responsibilities in different businesses. He was primarily the chairman and chief executive officer of Guardian Industries, one of the largest producers of architectural and automotive glass in the United States.

At his death, William left over $3 billion worth of assets for his family. This led to a dispute among family members. Karen had most of the late Williams assets and properties under her care. However, she’s lost possession of nearly all he owned and left behind as she preferred to sell them off for cash instead. Now, she is over 3 billion dollars rich and is listed as one of the wealthiest women in the world.