Entrepreneur from page 36
when faced with an ethical dilemma.
Penny Saved
Gilbert peppers his presentation with quips, humor-
ous slides and sound bites, and repartee with the
new hires, imploring them to "always have fun."
He loves phrases like "a penny saved is a penny:'
"responding with a sense of urgency is the ante to
play" and "we are the cthey'."
Weaving through the room with a portable micro-
phone, Gilbert said: "I'd rather have a company that does
thousands of little things very well instead of just one
thing well." He explained: "If you do only one thing well,
people can copy it. But if you do a lot of things well, people
will have a tougher time competing against you."
Gilbert even invited all of the clergy and other top staff
Photos by Brett Mountain
of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield to attend one of these
sessions. "It was a wonderful experience said Rabbi Harold
Loss. "We got a lot out of it and have applied the experience
to some changes and restructuring at our own temple.
"Dan is a bright young man who hasn't taken his suc-
cess for granted. He's incredibly charitable and often
does things in a quiet and private way without seeking
recognition."
Rabbi Loss, who officiated at Dan and Jennifer
Gilbert's wedding, calls Dan "a loving family man
who gives his wife and children high priority no
matter how busy he is."
Gilbert is modest when discussing his charitable
donations.
"They are devoted mainly to Detroit, the
Jewish community and health causes:' said Joyce
Keller of Waterford, former JARC executive
director who is now Gilbert's philanthropic
adviser. "His philanthropies are focused on
his deep, personal history in Detroit and, of
Top: Dan Gilbert speaks to Quicken Loans employees in
course, with his family. Having his name on
their new Detroit headquarters. Above: The boss has a quick
buildings and signs is not his motivation."
hello for Bruce Schwalb of Commerce, Todd Matzkin-Bridger
Among his other charities, Keller listed
and Doron Eisenberg, both of West Bloomfield.
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, JARC (Gilbert's uncle lives in
a JARC home), Friends of the Israel
Defense
Forces, AIPAC, the Frankel
Gilbert Motif
Jewish Academy of Metropolitan
Dan Gilbert loves Detroit, finance, sports and his family. All of
Detroit, the JCC Maccabi Games, Junior
that is reflected in the design of Quicken Loans' new
Achievement, the Cleveland Clinic and
headquarters in the Compuware building downtown.
others.
He and his wife have established clinics
Dave Garant, Quicken's creative director, reports his team has
for
research into neurofibromatosis, a rare
come up with the following:
nerve disorder, in Washington, D.C. and
• The ninth floor is called the Neighborhood, with conference
Israel.
rooms named the Fox, the Spirit of Detroit, Eastern Market
and Hitsville, USA.
• The 10th floor is called Home Court, with conference rooms
named the Bullpen, the End Zone and Coaches' Corner.
• The 11th floor is called the Financial District, with confer-
ence rooms named the Boardwalk, the Exchange and the
Reserve.
• The 12th floor is called the Neighborhood Playground, with
conference rooms named the Sandbox, the Tree Fort and
Cloud Nine.
• Detroit photographers and graffiti artists also are
decorating the floors with other graphics of Detroit and
Gilbert's famous "isms."
38
August 19 • 2010
Major Force
"When it comes to giving, Dan is like a
force of nature said Bob Aronson, the
Federation's senior development adviser.
"He gave one of the largest gifts in the
recent Federation campaign. He's com-
pletely committed to and very passionate
about his philanthropies. He makes others
want to follow his lead."
Nate Forbes of Franklin, a Quicken Loans
and Cays investor who has known Gilbert for
20 years, said,"Dan's mind starts working at
a high level when he gets up in the morning
and just never stops; he's always pushing the
envelope, giving of his mind, heart, soul and philanthropic
spirit, and he's extremely loyal to friends." Forbes is a regional
mall developer, including Somerset Collection in Troy.
Gilbert smiles at questions about his personal wealth, esti-
mated at about $1 billion by Forbes magazine's annual rank-
ings. He likes to quote Jewish scientist Albert Einstein: "Not
everything that can be counted, counts; not everything that
counts, can be counted."
And it all started with nickels and dimes and an inquisi-
tive mind after he and his brother moved with their parents,
Sam and Shirley Gilbert, from Oak Park to the Twyckingham
subdivision near Lahser and 12 Mile roads in Southfield in
the mid-1960s.
Gilbert held candy sales in his garage, sold yo-yos, deliv-
ered newspapers, pedaled toys and pots and pans to neigh-
bors and relatives, and bought power tools from a wholesaler
and sold them to garage mechanics.
He began his philanthropy even as a kid, donating some of
his profits to the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.
Briefly Pizza
Gilbert and Carroll made pizzas from a mix in their kitchens
and sold them to neighbors, paying other children to deliver
them "hot" by bicycle. (Local health authorities finally closed
them down.) Gilbert later earned most of his future Rock
start-up money by delivering real pizza, quipping: "I think I
set an all-time record by delivering 78 pizzas on one 4 p.m.-
to-midnight shift."
A self-described sports fanatic, Gilbert never played orga-
nized sports, but he works out daily, mainly lifting weights.
At age 14, he and Carroll managed a Little League baseball
team, surprising the adult managers of the other teams by
winning the championship in two out of four years. He now
finds time to co-manage one of his son's Little League base-
ball and basketball teams.
"Danny was always a go-getter, very bright and an entre-
preneur at an early age said his mother, Shirley Gilbert, 80,
of West Bloomfield. "I knew right away he had a great future.
And what's most important to me now is that he and his
brother are not only very successful, but they 'give back' to
the community"
Gary Gilbert, 46, is an independent movie producer
(Gilbert Films), enjoying his own success with his current
hit, The Kids Are All Right.
Gilbert's father, Sam, was a Detroit restaurateur who died
two years ago at 91. Shirley, a retired Realtor, now dotes on
Gilbert's five children — four boys and a girl — ranging in
age from 4 to 14. They attend Temple Israel's religious school.
Gilbert's wife, Jennifer, was a Quicken Loans employee
when they got married 15 years ago.
Gilbert proudly mentions in his speeches that his father
and grandfather were Detroit businessmen and that's how he
developed his affinity for the city. His grandfather, Manuel
Feldstein, owned car washes in Detroit. Sam Gilbert and
Irving Sachs operated Saksey's Lounge on Woodward near
Seven Mile Road, and Dan says he "had fun playing in the
basement with adding machines and doing some menial jobs
around the place."
$11,000 A Year
Gilbert obtained a communications degree from Michigan
State University and took a job as a street reporter for a
Kalamazoo TV channel "at a salary of $11,000 a year." But six
months later, he got a real estate license and attended Wayne
State University's law school. It was during law school that he
actually started Rock Financial.