Mat Ishbia

Last updated

Mat Ishbia
Mat Ishbia.jpg
Ishbia in 2020
Born
Mathew Randall Ishbia
EducationMichigan State University
Known forCEO and chairman of United Wholesale Mortgage
Majority owner of the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA
Family Justin Ishbia (brother)
Basketball career
Personal information
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school Seaholm
(Birmingham, Michigan)
College Michigan State (1999–2002)
Position Point guard
Number11
Career highlights and awards

Mathew Randall Ishbia (born in 1980) [1] is an American billionaire businessman who is CEO and chairman of mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage. He is the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA alongside his older brother Justin. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Ishbia was raised in a Jewish family in Birmingham, Michigan. [3] He played basketball as a walk-on point guard for Michigan State from 1999 to 2002 and was a member of the team that won the national championship in 2000. [4] [5] [6]

Career

In 2013, Ishbia became the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, a mortgage lender founded by his father in 1986. [3] In 2015, under his leadership, the company marked a momentous accomplishment as it secured the top position as the leading wholesale mortgage lender in the country for the very first time. [7] [8] In 2019, Ishbia published his debut book titled "Running the Corporate Offense: Lessons in Effective Leadership from the Bench to the Board Room."

He became a billionaire in 2021 when United Wholesale Mortgage became a publicly traded company. [3] In 2021, Ishbia announced that United Wholesale Mortgage would no longer do business with any broker doing business with competitors Rocket Mortgage and Fairway Independent Mortgage, leading to a lawsuit filed by brokers a month later. [9] [10]

In December 2022, Ishbia's bid was accepted to purchase the NBA's Phoenix Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury basketball teams for $4 billion, pending league approval. [11] The NBA approved the sale on February 6, 2023. [12] Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who is also the CEO of Rocket Mortgage, abstained from voting. [13]

During Game 4 of the Suns 2023 playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Ishbia was involved in an altercation with Nuggets player Nikola Jokić. During the game, Suns player Josh Okogie crashed into the seats while trying to save a loose ball. He landed in a group of fans on the baseline that included Ishbia, who grabbed the basketball. Jokić tried to take the ball away from Ishbia, resulting in the ball flying backward into the crowd and Ishbia being knocked backward by Jokić's elbow. Jokić was then assessed a technical foul and was fined $25,000 the next day. [14] [15]

Forbes lists his net worth as of April 2022 at $4.9 billion USD. [1]

Philanthropy

On February 4, 2021, Ishbia donated $32 million to Michigan State University, the largest one-time commitment from an individual. [16] $20 million of the donation was earmarked for a new Tom Izzo Basketball Building. [17] A month later, on March 12, Ishbia donated $1 million to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. [18] In November 2021, Ishbia agreed to donate an additional $14 million to Michigan State University. He disclosed the donation was to retain head football coach Mel Tucker which was later confirmed through a legal battle to obtain donation records originally denied by MSU through a FOIA. [17]

Personal life

Ishbia is divorced [1] and has three children. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's National Basketball Association</span> Professional womens basketball league in the United States

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league composed of 12 teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Suns</span> National Basketball Association team in Phoenix, Arizona

The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Suns are the only team in their division not to be based in California. They play their home games at the Footprint Center. The Suns are one of four major league sports teams based in the Phoenix area, but are the only one to bill themselves as representing the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Mercury</span> American professional basketball team

The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). One of eight original franchises, it was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Davidson (businessman)</span> American businessman (1922–2009)

William Morse Davidson was an American businessman. He was president, chairman and CEO of Guardian Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass. He was also owner of several North American professional sports teams and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mateen Cleaves</span> American basketball player (born 1977)

Mateen Ahmad Cleaves is an American retired basketball player. He played parts of six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player for Michigan State, where he led the Spartans to a national championship in 2000. He has also worked as a studio analyst for Fox Sports.

Paul William Westhead is an American retired basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), American Basketball Association (ABA), and Japan Basketball League (JBL). In his first year as an NBA head coach, he led a rookie Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 NBA Finals, which they won in six games for the team's first title in eight years. Westhead won titles in both the NBA and WNBA, and he is also remembered as the coach of the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) men's basketball team. Westhead is known for an unorthodox, run-and-gun style called "The System.” He was nicknamed "The Professor" due to his former career as an English teacher prior to coaching and his tendency to quote Shakespeare and other literary sources while coaching. He attended Saint Joseph's University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Sarver</span> American businessman (born 1961)

Robert Gary Sarver is an American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Value Partners, a real estate development company, and the former owner of the Phoenix Suns NBA team, Phoenix Mercury WNBA team and the RCD Mallorca La Liga Spanish football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Gilbert</span> American businessman (born 1962)

Daniel Gilbert is an American billionaire, businessman, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and majority owner of Rocket Mortgage, founder of Rock Ventures, and owner of the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers. Gilbert owns several sports franchises, including the American Hockey League's Cleveland Monsters, and the NBA G League's Cleveland Charge. He operates the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Cavaliers and Monsters. As of January 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth at US$18.3 billion.

Corey Yasuto Gaines is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Premier League Assists Leader, in 1999 and in 2001 to 2003. He was also a former head coach of the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Harris</span> American basketball player

Gary Harris is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Paul</span> American sports agent (born 1981)

Rich Paul is an American sports agent and founder of Klutch Sports Group. His most notable client is American basketball player LeBron James with whom he is also a long-time friend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jahm Najafi</span> Iranian-American businessman (born 1963)

Jamshid Jahm Najafi is an Iranian-American billionaire businessman. He manages The Najafi Companies, a private equity firm, is vice chairman of the NBA's Phoenix Suns and McLaren Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Wholesale Mortgage</span> Mortgage lender

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), formerly United Shore Financial Services, is an American wholesale mortgage lender headquartered in Pontiac, Michigan. Underwriting loans for independent brokers, UWM is the largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States.

The 2022–23 NBA season was the 77th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 18, 2022, and ended on April 9, 2023. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 19, 2023, at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. The play-in tournament was held on April 11–14, 2023. The 2023 NBA playoffs then began on April 15, and ended on June 12 with the Denver Nuggets defeating the Miami Heat in 5 games in the 2023 NBA Finals.

The 2022–23 Phoenix Suns season was their 55th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as their 30th season at the Footprint Center. It was also the last season under Robert Sarver's ownership tenure, as he was suspended from league-wide activities on September 13, 2022 due to an independent investigation on Sarver that began the season prior revealing inappropriate behaviors he had throughout his tenure as franchise owner of the Suns. He later announced in that same month that minority team owner and vice chairman of the Suns, Sam Garvin, would take over the majority of team duties for the rest of this season until new ownership bought out Sarver as the new majority team owners going forward. Sarver eventually accepted a deal to sell his ownership rights to both the Suns and Phoenix Mercury to an ownership group led by United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia and his older brother Justin Ishbia for an asking price of $4 billion on December 20, 2022, with the NBA approving of the new ownership on February 6, 2023 and an official announcement confirming the deal coming a day later on February 7, 2023.

Sam Garvin is an American business executive and administrator who is the current CEO of the Garvin Promotion Group, co-owner of the RCD Mallorca La Liga Spanish football team and former alternate and incumbent governor of the Phoenix Suns from September 15, 2022 until February 7, 2023, replacing Robert Sarver for what was intended to be the entire 2022-23 NBA season until the sale of the Suns to Mat Ishbia and Justin Ishbia on February 7, 2023 became official.

The 2023 Phoenix Mercury season was the 26th season for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association, and the second season under head coach Vanessa Nygaard.

Justin R. Ishbia is an American billionaire businessman and private equity investor who is a founding partner of Shore Capital Partners. He is a part majority owner of the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA along with his brother Mat Ishbia. He is also a minority owner of Major League Soccer team Nashville SC.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mat Ishbia". Forbes - The World's Billionaires . Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Sources: Mat Ishbia's purchase of Suns, Mercury to be official soon". espn.com. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Keene, Louis (20 December 2022). "Phoenix Suns' new owner played for his hometown Maccabi team". Jewish Daily Forward . Ishbia, 42, who will also acquire the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury in the deal, grew up in a Jewish family in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
  4. ↑ Deb, Sopan; Ganguli, Tania (20 December 2022). "Mat Ishbia Nears $4 Billion Deal for Phoenix Suns and Mercury". The New York Times .
  5. ↑ Jemele Hill (29 March 2001). "Ishbia is the clown prince of Spartans' bench". Detroit Free Press . p. 13G. Retrieved 8 May 2023– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  6. ↑ Jack Ebling (2 March 2002). "Spartan favorite says farewell". Lansing State Journal . pp. 1C, 6C. Retrieved 8 May 2023– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. ↑ "UWM the Nation's #1 Wholesale Lender for 2015". prnewswire.com.
  8. ↑ "Mat Ishbia - How a Former NCAA Champion Built a Billion-Dollar Empire". CasinoReviews.net.
  9. ↑ "UWM says it won't do business with brokers working with Rocket, Fairway". Detroit Free Press. 5 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "United Wholesale Mortgage says its crosstown war with Quicken Loans is paying off". CNBC. 24 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Ishbia agrees to Suns purchase for record $4B". ESPN.com. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "NBA approves sale of Suns, Mercury to Ishbia". espn.com. 7 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Rivalry between Suns' Ishbia, Cavs' Gilbert reportedly carries over to NBA". arizonasports.com. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Nuggets 124-129 Suns (May 7, 2023) Game Recap". espn.com. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  15. ↑ Owens, Jason (8 May 2023). "Nikola Jokić fined, not suspended for Game 4 altercation with Suns owner Mat Ishbia". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "Mat Isbia Makes $32M donation to Michigan State University". Detroit News. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  17. 1 2 Guillen, Joe (6 June 2023). "FOIA Friday: Contracts with MSU boosters revealed". Axios. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  18. ↑ Ex-Michigan State hoops player donates $1 million to V Foundation
  19. ↑ Pekmic, Asmir (20 January 2023). "Who is Mat Ishbia's wife Emily Ishbia? All you need to know". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.