Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Dan's Plan: bring a championship to Cleveland
By:
Mortgage magnate Dan Gilbert admires Cleveland for the same reason he admires and loves his hometown of Detroit. Both cities embrace Midwestern values typified by a blue-collar work ethic, he says.
This is the attitude Gilbert plans to bring here as the new owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He reached an agreement Monday with current owner Gordon Gund to assume ownership of the team and the 20,000-seat Gund Arena.
"A professional sports team has the responsibility to serve the community in which it resides," Gilbert, 42, said during a Monday morning conference call with local media. "We will be committed to the fans of Cleveland sports to be as passionate as they are about bringing a title home."
The deal will close following approval from the NBA's board of governors. Gilbert, who is Jewish, is founder of Quicken Loans, the nation's largest online mortgage company. Gilbert heads an ownership group that reportedly offered Gund $375 million; he hopes to obtain full ownership of the team by the end of the NBA regular season, if not sooner.
Gund, who had been in contact with Gilbert for several months, will stay on as a minority shareholder when the sale is finalized. He and his brother George bought the franchise from Ted Stepien in 1983 for $20 million. "I have great confidence in (Gilbert) and the future of both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Gund Arena," Gund said in a statement released this week.
Gilbert will be responsible for the club's day-to-day operations. He said he has no plans to relocate the Cavaliers, a thought that has been preying on the minds of fans since Gund announced he was selling the team last month.
"I love the arena and the fanbase here," Gilbert said. "There is no thought of moving the team out of Cleveland."
The mortgage magnate lives in suburban Detroit with his wife Jennifer and their four children. He supports a number of nonprofit groups and charities, and serves on the board of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. He is also president of nonprofit JARC, a Detroit-based Jewish non-profit that provides housing and services to developmentally disabled people.
The Cavaliers' owner-to-be will not move to Cleveland when the sale is completed, but he is planning frequent trips to the city to watch the team, he said. Gilbert has already timed the plane trip, about 20 minutes from Detroit to Burke Lakefront Airport.
The Michigan State University graduate (no, Gilbert is not a University of Michigan Wolverine, he stresses) looks forward to the challenge of bringing the city its first major sports championship in over 40 years. With the arrival of star LeBron James, the Cavaliers have emerged as a playoff contender and an overall hot commodity throughout the league.
"I would love to help this city, which hasn't had a winner in so long," Gilbert remarked.
This is not Gilbert's first foray into sports ownership, a dream he's nurtured since boyhood. A lifelong sports fan whose first job out of college was as a sports broadcaster, he failed in an attempt to buy baseball's Milwaukee Brewers last year.
However, Gilbert views that disappointment as "a blessing in disguise," as it allowed him to pursue a team with "a lot more sizzle to it," he said. "We're in a great spot to really take off."
LeBron is one reason for this ascension, as are free agents-to-be Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Jeff McInnis. Will Gilbert spend the money to keep these players, and in a few years LeBron when his contract expires?
While he will not directly discuss player contracts until he officially becomes owner, Gilbert said he will do "whatever it takes to build a winner." But as a businessman, he added, he will proceed with caution when it comes to throwing millions of dollars around.
Gilbert operates his business by the philosophy "Money follows, it does not lead." In other words, "if we build a great organization from top to bottom, the money will follow."
This philosophy seems to have worked for his business ventures. Gilbert employs 2,250 people at Quicken Loans, named the 13th best company to work for by Fortune Magazine in 2004. His workers enjoy free daily meals at the company's offices, and Gilbert is known for throwing lavish holiday parties.
Even as a boy, Gilbert had an entrepreneurial streak. At age 12, he made pizzas to sell to his neighbors. As a first-year law student, he founded Rock Financial Corporation in 1985, growing it into one of the largest independent mortgage banks in the country.
In 1999, Intuit Inc., makers of market leading software TurboTax and Quicken, purchased Gilbert's company for $370 million, changing its name to Quicken Loans. Gilbert and a group of investors bought back Quicken Loans for $150 million almost three years later.
Gilbert is also a partner in the private investment group Camelot Ventures, which invests in and operates high-tech businesses. His passion for sports has crossed over into his business ventures. Gilbert was a major shareholder with Rawlings Sporting Goods, a company that manufactures mitts, bats and balls, and was instrumental in its sale to the K2 Co. in 2003.
Success has earned Gilbert many industry and community accolades, including the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from Ernst & Young in 1999.
His passion for sports is undeniable, and it may have led to trouble during his college years. According to the Lansing State Journal, Gilbert was arrested in 1981 on charges of operating a sports bookmaking ring while a student at Michigan State.
Gilbert, accused of conspiring to violate state gambling laws, was fined, given three years probation and ordered to do 100 hours of community service. A felony charge was dropped after he completed the sentence. Quicken Loans spokeswoman Elizabeth Jones said in a statement that despite the arrest, Gilbert's record is "exemplary."
Gilbert's background is building winning teams in the business world. But how does a winning business environment translate to the sports world? His philosophy centers around two components:
"Creating an environment where the entire team can achieve their potential and delivering a world-class experience to our clients, or in this case, our fans," said Gilbert. "Execution will be the name of the game at every level and in every corner of the organization."
Gilbert is not scared by Cleveland's "medium market" tag, often blamed by sports-talk hosts and fans for the dearth of superstar players on the city's teams. A quality organization, he said, will trump the allure of Los Angeles or New York. "If you build a great product, people will be attracted to it."
This is the attitude Gilbert plans to bring here as the new owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He reached an agreement Monday with current owner Gordon Gund to assume ownership of the team and the 20,000-seat Gund Arena.
"A professional sports team has the responsibility to serve the community in which it resides," Gilbert, 42, said during a Monday morning conference call with local media. "We will be committed to the fans of Cleveland sports to be as passionate as they are about bringing a title home."
The deal will close following approval from the NBA's board of governors. Gilbert, who is Jewish, is founder of Quicken Loans, the nation's largest online mortgage company. Gilbert heads an ownership group that reportedly offered Gund $375 million; he hopes to obtain full ownership of the team by the end of the NBA regular season, if not sooner.
Gund, who had been in contact with Gilbert for several months, will stay on as a minority shareholder when the sale is finalized. He and his brother George bought the franchise from Ted Stepien in 1983 for $20 million. "I have great confidence in (Gilbert) and the future of both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Gund Arena," Gund said in a statement released this week.
Gilbert will be responsible for the club's day-to-day operations. He said he has no plans to relocate the Cavaliers, a thought that has been preying on the minds of fans since Gund announced he was selling the team last month.
"I love the arena and the fanbase here," Gilbert said. "There is no thought of moving the team out of Cleveland."
The mortgage magnate lives in suburban Detroit with his wife Jennifer and their four children. He supports a number of nonprofit groups and charities, and serves on the board of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. He is also president of nonprofit JARC, a Detroit-based Jewish non-profit that provides housing and services to developmentally disabled people.
The Cavaliers' owner-to-be will not move to Cleveland when the sale is completed, but he is planning frequent trips to the city to watch the team, he said. Gilbert has already timed the plane trip, about 20 minutes from Detroit to Burke Lakefront Airport.
The Michigan State University graduate (no, Gilbert is not a University of Michigan Wolverine, he stresses) looks forward to the challenge of bringing the city its first major sports championship in over 40 years. With the arrival of star LeBron James, the Cavaliers have emerged as a playoff contender and an overall hot commodity throughout the league.
"I would love to help this city, which hasn't had a winner in so long," Gilbert remarked.
This is not Gilbert's first foray into sports ownership, a dream he's nurtured since boyhood. A lifelong sports fan whose first job out of college was as a sports broadcaster, he failed in an attempt to buy baseball's Milwaukee Brewers last year.
However, Gilbert views that disappointment as "a blessing in disguise," as it allowed him to pursue a team with "a lot more sizzle to it," he said. "We're in a great spot to really take off."
LeBron is one reason for this ascension, as are free agents-to-be Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Jeff McInnis. Will Gilbert spend the money to keep these players, and in a few years LeBron when his contract expires?
While he will not directly discuss player contracts until he officially becomes owner, Gilbert said he will do "whatever it takes to build a winner." But as a businessman, he added, he will proceed with caution when it comes to throwing millions of dollars around.
Gilbert operates his business by the philosophy "Money follows, it does not lead." In other words, "if we build a great organization from top to bottom, the money will follow."
This philosophy seems to have worked for his business ventures. Gilbert employs 2,250 people at Quicken Loans, named the 13th best company to work for by Fortune Magazine in 2004. His workers enjoy free daily meals at the company's offices, and Gilbert is known for throwing lavish holiday parties.
Even as a boy, Gilbert had an entrepreneurial streak. At age 12, he made pizzas to sell to his neighbors. As a first-year law student, he founded Rock Financial Corporation in 1985, growing it into one of the largest independent mortgage banks in the country.
In 1999, Intuit Inc., makers of market leading software TurboTax and Quicken, purchased Gilbert's company for $370 million, changing its name to Quicken Loans. Gilbert and a group of investors bought back Quicken Loans for $150 million almost three years later.
Gilbert is also a partner in the private investment group Camelot Ventures, which invests in and operates high-tech businesses. His passion for sports has crossed over into his business ventures. Gilbert was a major shareholder with Rawlings Sporting Goods, a company that manufactures mitts, bats and balls, and was instrumental in its sale to the K2 Co. in 2003.
Success has earned Gilbert many industry and community accolades, including the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from Ernst & Young in 1999.
His passion for sports is undeniable, and it may have led to trouble during his college years. According to the Lansing State Journal, Gilbert was arrested in 1981 on charges of operating a sports bookmaking ring while a student at Michigan State.
Gilbert, accused of conspiring to violate state gambling laws, was fined, given three years probation and ordered to do 100 hours of community service. A felony charge was dropped after he completed the sentence. Quicken Loans spokeswoman Elizabeth Jones said in a statement that despite the arrest, Gilbert's record is "exemplary."
Gilbert's background is building winning teams in the business world. But how does a winning business environment translate to the sports world? His philosophy centers around two components:
"Creating an environment where the entire team can achieve their potential and delivering a world-class experience to our clients, or in this case, our fans," said Gilbert. "Execution will be the name of the game at every level and in every corner of the organization."
Gilbert is not scared by Cleveland's "medium market" tag, often blamed by sports-talk hosts and fans for the dearth of superstar players on the city's teams. A quality organization, he said, will trump the allure of Los Angeles or New York. "If you build a great product, people will be attracted to it."
 |
 |
|
| Surviving the tsunami | Area rabbis answer tough questions in wake of disaster |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of clevelandjewishnews.com.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments. Registration is free.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
