Background and career
Daniel Bruce Gilbert (born January 17, 1962) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the co-founder, majority owner, and chairman of Rocket Mortgage, and founder of Rock Ventures. He is also well-known as the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association, the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League, and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. As of May 2025, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$19.9 billion, making him the 88th richest person in the world.
Gilbert was born to a Jewish family in Detroit, Michigan.At age 12, Gilbert organized a pizza delivery service with children on bikes delivering in the neighborhood. He grew up in Southfield, Michigan, where he attended Southfield-Lathrup High School. While attending college he worked delivering pizzas. He earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School, and he is a member of the State Bar of Michigan. While in college he earned a real estate agent's license, and while in law school, he worked part-time at his parents' Century 21 Real Estate agency.
Gilbert founded Rock Financial in 1985 with Ron Berman, Lindsay Gross and his younger brother Gary Gilbert. In the late 1990s, the company launched its internet strategy, becoming an early online direct mortgage lender. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the company became the largest retail mortgage lender by volume in the United States. In 2000, software maker Intuit Inc. purchased Rock Financial and renamed the national web operation Quicken Loans. In 2002, Gilbert and a group of private investors purchased Quicken Loans and its affiliated national title company, Title Source, Inc., from Intuit. As of 2021, Gilbert was the chairman of Quicken Loans, Inc. In 2007, Gilbert and the city of Detroit announced an agreement to move the company's headquarters to downtown Detroit. All 3,600 Michigan-based employees moved into Detroit's urban core by the end of 2010. In August 2020, Quicken Loans went public under the name Rocket Companies and made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "RKT". As of 2020, Gilbert remained the majority owner, controlling 79% of the company's shares.
In 2005, Dan Gilbert bought the Cleveland Cavaliers for $375 million, which was then a record price for an NBA team. Since then, he has overseen significant improvements to the team's facilities. In 2006, Gilbert also purchased the Cleveland Monsters, a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The team is affiliated with the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. Gilbert has been an active and vocal owner, often speaking out on social media and in public about his teams and the NBA. He has also been involved in efforts to bring major sporting events to Cleveland, including the NBA All-Star Game and the NFL draft. Gilbert's ownership of the Cavaliers has been marked by both success and controversy. The team won its first NBA championship in 2016, but also went through a tumultuous period after LeBron James left in 2018. Additionally, Gilbert has faced criticism for his treatment of former head coach David Blatt. Overall, however, Dan Gilbert's ownership of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Monsters has been a significant part of his business and investment portfolio, and he remains a prominent figure in both the NBA and the city of Cleveland.
Gilbert is a founding partner in the 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 Gas Station TV, Robb Report, and RapidAdvance, among other ventures. Gilbert is also an investor in Courtside Ventures, a venture capital fund investing across early-stage technology and media companies with a focus on sports and is a founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners (DVP), a venture capital firm that funds start-up and early-stage technology companies based primarily in Detroit.[23] Some of the companies DVP has invested in includes CoverTree, Rivet and InvestNext. Gilbert cofounded StockX, a stock market for high-demand, limited edition products such as sneakers. Gilbert is also invested and involved in the operation of several consumer-based technology-centered businesses, including Fathead, Veritix, Xenith, StyleCaster, and Quizzle. Gilbert launched nonprofit Bizdom in 2007, which promotes both tech and brick-and-mortar entrepreneurship in Detroit and Cleveland by supporting on-the-ground service providers. In November 2009, Gilbert and a group of partners successfully backed a statewide referendum to bring casino gaming to Ohio's four largest cities. Through a joint venture with Caesars Entertainment, the groups operate urban-based casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati. The first of the casinos, Jack Cleveland Casino, opened in May 2012. In 2021, Dan Gilbert and his Family of Companies sold all interests in these casinos and, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission, is no longer affiliated with Jack Entertainment. In 2013, Rock Ventures, the umbrella entity for Gilbert's investments and real estate holdings, announced it had formed Athens Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Rock Gaming, and acquired the majority interest in Greektown Superholdings Inc., owner of the Greektown Casino-Hotel located in downtown Detroit. In 2019, Dan Gilbert sold the Greektown Casino to Vici Properties. In late 2018, Gilbert bought the online dictionaries Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com, both of which were later sold to IXL Learning. In November 2017, former professional Call of Duty player and 100 Thieves CEO Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag announced that Gilbert had made a multimillion-dollar investment into the esports organization.
Quicken Loans, which changed its name to Rocket Mortgage, moved its headquarters and 1,700 of its employees to downtown Detroit in August 2010, where Gilbert and the company are helping lead a revitalization of Detroit's urban core. His initiative has led others, such as Ford Motor Company to invest millions into the city.
