| The Butler |
Sources: Cleveland Cavaliers to be sold for $375M
By Daniel Dunaief
The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the verge of being sold to Michigan businessman Dan Gilbert for $375 million, several people familiar with the situation told the Daily News on Thursday.
An announcement could come as early as next week, the sources said.
Neither Gilbert nor the Cavaliers returned calls for comment. Gilbert, who is CEO of Quicken Loans, had tried in October to purchase the Milwaukee Brewers.
Led by sophomore sensation LeBron James, the Cavaliers are currently owned by Gordon Gund, a Cleveland scion and a board member at Kellogg.
Gordon Gund, who is blind, and his brother George bought the Cavaliers in 1983. The sale would be the second-largest ever for an NBA franchise, behind the $401 million sale of the Phoenix Suns to San Diego banking exec Robert Sarver earlier this year.
It would value the Cavaliers at slightly more than the $360 million paid for the Boston Celtics in 2002.
The Cavaliers have a 12-7 record and are atop the Central Division of the NBA's Eastern Conference. |
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| Prince |
This is a great move for Lebron, The Cavs & The Fans!!!
Gund was that typical owner in cleveland that they want to never lose a dime. Just get sell-outs and never go over The Cap. Excuses,Excuses.
This Guy is loaded. The Cavs need to resign; Z, J Mac & get Michael Redd. If they do that they are in the finals next year.
Here is somemore info on the New owner:
Here's a little more info on Gilbert.
www.realestateinsiders.co...+The+Hosts
Daniel Gilbert is the Chairman of Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender.
Quicken Loans Inc., which consists of Quicken Loans, Rock Financial and Title Source, has more than 1,700 employees. The company closed $12 billion in mortgage loans and generated nearly $400 million in revenue in 2003. Quicken Loans was ranked #13 on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2003 and was voted “The Best and Brightest Company to Work for in Metro-Detroit” in 2002.
Quicken Loans’ website, Quickenloans.com, has been named a “Best of the Web” site by Forbes, Money and PC magazines. Rock Financial is Michigan’s largest mortgage company and its two brick-and-mortar branches in southeast Michigan are the largest retail mortgage branches in the country.
Gilbert founded Rock Financial Corporation in 1985 as a first-year law student. Gilbert, then 23, served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Rock Financial grew into one of the largest independent mortgage banks in the country. In May 1998, Gilbert took the company public, launching a successful IPO underwritten by Bear Stearns and Prudential Securities. Initially a brick and mortar lender, the company launched Rockloans.com in January 1999, which quickly positioned itself as one of the fastest growing online direct mortgage lenders on the Internet.
In December 1999, Intuit Inc. (makers of market leading software TurboTax and Quicken) purchased Rock Financial for $532 million in stock. The company was renamed Quicken Loans, and soon became a leading provider of direct-to-consumer home loans on the Internet, offering mortgages in all 50 states.
In June 2002, Gilbert announced he would lead a small group of private investors in purchasing the Quicken Loans subsidiary back from Intuit. The purchase was completed in July 2002. The company retained all Quicken Loans branding and marketing initiatives, including partnerships with Yahoo!, MSN.com, AOL.com and Realtor.com.
He also is a partner in private investment group Camelot Ventures, which invests in technology and other businesses, including replacement contact lens retailing companies Lens 1st, Lens Express and 1-800-Contacts; Kintana, a technology chain automation software developer; and Red Envelope, a leading online and catalog retailer of stylish gifts.
Gilbert was Rawlings Sporting Goods’ largest shareholder and was instrumental in effecting the sale of Rawlings to K2 in March 2003. He also has been a partner and investor in numerous commercial and residential real estate ventures.
Gilbert has served on the Board of Directors of Great Lakes Bancorp, a publicly held $3 billion Michigan thrift. He is the president of JARC, a non-profit organization providing housing and services to the developmentally disabled, and on the board of the National Neurofibromatosis Foundation, Inc., in New York City.
Gilbert has earned many industry and community accolades including the highly coveted "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from Ernst and Young in 1999. He was inducted into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in May 2003. Gilbert received an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University, a law degree from Wayne State University and is a member of the Michigan State Bar.
Gilbert resides in suburban Detroit with his wife and four children. |
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