Dan Gilbert

Dan Gilbert founded Quicken Loans in Cleveland in 1985, building it into the largest online mortgage lender in the United States. Quicken Loans (rebranded as Rocket Mortgage) pioneered the fully online mortgage origination process, disrupting the traditional branch-based mortgage industry. During the 2008 financial crisis, Quicken avoided subprime lending and emerged stronger, ultimately going public as Rocket Companies in 2020. Gilbert has also been the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers since 2005 — the franchise won the NBA championship in 2016. He has also been a major investor in the revival of downtown Detroit, purchasing and renovating numerous office buildings to attract technology and professional services companies. Rocket Companies' IPO in 2020 valued the business at over $40 billion, making it one of the largest financial technology listings of the year and validating Gilbert's long-term investment in technology-driven mortgage infrastructure.