Rock-Solid

A long-time sportsman, who has held
season's tickets to the Detroit Lions
games through thick and thin for 20
years, Gilbert made his first venture into
Indianapolis 500 car racing this year,
linking with Penske Racing, Inc.
Quicken Loan-sponsored cars finished
first and second in the initial try!
mechanics.
Gilbert recently caused a stir on Wall
Street and at the offices of the venerable
Fast forward 29 years. Gilbert, 41, of
Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. of St.
Franklin, is now chairman of Quicken
Louis by becoming the largest share-
Loans, Inc., the nation's largest online
holder at the maker of major league
mortgage lender and the country's 23rd
baseball mitts, bats and balls, then try-
largest, out of 35,000, retail mortgage
ing, unsuccessfully, to take over the firm.
firm. The Quicken Loans organization
He later was instrumental in the compa-
consists of more than 1,500 employees
ny's sale to the K2 Co.
at Quicken Loans, Inc., Rock Financial
He's also a partner in a private invest-
and Title Source, a title and settlement
ment group called Camelot Ventures of
services company, operated by Jeff
Livonia, with David Katzman of
Eisenshtadt of Bloomfield Township.
Franklin and others investing in high-
Quicken expects to close about $15
tech businesses, such as automation soft-
billion in mortgage loans this year — at
ware, replacement contact lenses and
a rate of one deal every minute and 15
even a catalog retailer of stylish gifts.
seconds somewhere in the U.S.
Camelot recently spent $4.4 million to
But Gilbert also wants to be a
acquire 5.2 percent of Huffy Corp., a
banker. Rock Holdings, Inc.,
bicycle maker, saying it wants to help
parent company of Quicken
the firm increase shareholder value.
Loans and Rock Financial, has
Gilbert also is an investor in numer-
asked federal regulators to
ous commercial and residential real
approve its formation of a
estate ventures, and won the
new bank, with five branches Entrepreneur of the Year Award from
to open in southeastern
Ernst and Young, a professional services
Michigan some time next
company, in 1999.
year.
Gilbert hasn't forgotten the charitable
Rock also signed a deal
organizations in the Detroit area Jewish
recently to be the exclusive
community, often anonymously making
mortgage provider for Biltmore
large donations to charities, and he
Properties Corp., Troy, which
serves on the board of the Jewish
builds residences in Auburn
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. In
Hills, Canton Township, Novi
June, he became president of JARC, the
and Ann Arbor. Rock personnel
local non-profit that provides housing
will staff Biltmore's model
and services to developmentally disabled
homes to help streamline
people.
mortgage approval.
Strongly active in the Republican
Party, Gilbert, whose donations qualify
Sports Interest
him as a "regent" in GOP contribution
circles, was invited to have lunch with
President George W Bush at his
Crawford, Texas, ranch, and has attend-
ed many GOP events in Washington,
D.C.
Gilbert has received several industry
and community accolades, and, for his
work with youngsters, was inducted into
the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in
May.
Fast forward again. Gilbert sits at a
huge table in a large conference room in
Quicken's headquarters, which occupy
three floors in a modern office building
overlooking the 1-275 Freeway in
Livonia. Wearing a sport shirt and
trousers and a simple employee identifi-
cation badge around his neck, it would
be hard to distinguish him from the
other workers — other than the number

Dan Gilbert has partnered his business success with
philanthropy and community service.

BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News

D

an Gilbert became a business
entrepreneur at age 12. He
and some friends made piz-
zas from a mix and sold
them to people on his block in
Southfield, paying other children to
deliver them "hot," by bicycle.
Later, he held candy sales in his
garage. Then he pedaled toys and pots
and pans to relatives and neighbors. He
even bought power tools from a whole-
saler and sold them, cheap, to garage

of digits on his paycheck. In modest
terms, he describes the foibles of his
youth and his meteoric rise — along
with that of his company — in the hec-
tic mortgage business.
All-time low national interest rates —
the Fed rate is at its lowest in 45 years
— have spawned a wave of small mort-
gage companies in the Detroit area,
resulting in a "re-fi" frenzy among home
and business owners. But mortgagees
have to put up with the irritating mort-
gage sales spam on their home comput-
ers, daily marketing phone pitches —
usually at dinnertime — and the often
annoying repetitive television and radio
commercials.

Business Online

"We do about 80-85 percent of our loan
business on the Internet in other states
around the country and only 15-20 per-
cent in Michigan," said Gilbert, "and
that presents our biggest challenge in the
mortgage business. Since we're originat-
ing, processing and closing loans online
and offline all over the United States, we
have to do so with a different set of reg-
ulations in almost every state. So, our
people must keep up with the changing
rules and make sure we adhere to them.
"It can be like a quagmire at times.
That's one of the reasons we have about
1,000 operations personnel to support
our 500-plus salespeople. This includes
lawyers, lobbyists, computer technicians,
other technical support, marketing,
human resources and so forth. They
keep things humming.
"Customers can't beat the benefits of
the online mortgage process. They can
apply for a loan from the convenience of
their own home, 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, eliminating a lot of paper
work and 'middleman steps. They get
quick answers to their questions through
personal consultations with the loan offi-
cer."
The mortgage business was relatively
simple in 1985. Gilbert first obtained a
degree in communications from
Michigan State University, and spent six
months as a street reporter for a CBS-
TV affiliate in Kalamazoo. A bit bored,
he got a real estate license, then entered
Wayne State University's Law School. In
his first year there, in 1985, at the age of
23 he founded Rock Financial Corp. in
a shared office suite in Southfield. His
partners were his brother, Gary, now a
movie producer in New York, and a
friend, Lindsay Gross, of West
Bloomfield, now a private investor.
"I selected Rock as the name because
it's short, simple, memorable and gives a
solid appearance," Gilbert explained.
"We brokered mortgage loans, using

9/19
2003

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