Dan Gilbert owns a mortgage business, an NBA team, multiple casinos and more than 90 Detroit properties.
His newest possession: title to richest person in Michigan.
Forbes.com this week highlighted Gilbert, 55, in its latest rankings of the richest individual in every state, estimating his total net worth at $5.9 billion.
These rankings are separate from Forbes’ yearly list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, which comes out in October and can include net-worth calculations for more than a single person in its entries.
Last year, that list contained eight Michigan families and individuals. The highest entry for the state — brothers Hank and Doug Meijer of the Grand Rapids-based Meijer supermarket chain — was No. 70 with the brothers’ combined net worth of $6.9 billion.
Gilbert was No. 120 on that top 400 list, behind the Meijers, Mike and Marian Ilitch, and Amway co-founder Richard DeVos.
Forbes calculates that since last fall, Gilbert’s fortune has grown by $1.3 billion while DeVos’ inched forward by $200 million to $5.6 billion.
So Gilbert himself would now be Michigan’s richest individual.
Gilbert’s business interests are vast and complex.
He is the founder and chairman of Detroit-based mortgage giant Quicken Loans Inc., majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and has more than 100 business and real estate ventures under his Rock Ventures umbrella, such as Robb Report magazine and an online stock market for sneakers.
His specific real estate holdings include more than 90 properties in and around downtown Detroit.
Gilbert also has casinos and horse tracks in Detroit, Ohio, Baltimore and Kentucky under his JACK Entertainment enterprise, previously known as Rock Gaming.
The richest individual overall?
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is not only the richest person in Washington state, but also the world, with an estimated net worth of $88.9 billion.
