Dan Gilbert, the billionaire founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, is “awake, responsive and resting comfortably,” after suffering a stroke on Sunday, according to Bloomberg News.
“Dan was not feeling well Sunday morning so he was taken to the hospital by a family friend,” Quicken Loans Chief Executive Officer Jay Farner told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. “While under care at the hospital, he suffered a stroke and was immediately taken in for a catheter-based procedure, then moved to recovery in the intensive care unit.”
Gilbert founded Rock Financial, an independent mortgage lender, in 1985 with his younger brother Gary Gilbert. Almost two decades ago, software maker Intuit purchased the company, kept Gilbert as CEO, and renamed it Quicken Loans. In 2002, Gilbert and a group of private investors bought Quicken Loans and its national title company, Title Source, from Intuit. Just over a year ago, Quicken became the largest U.S. retail mortgage lender by volume, beating mortgage giant Wells Fargo, after it made $25 billion of loans in 2017's fourth quarter.
Gilbert, 57, is also the owner of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. He bought a majority stake in the basketball team in 2005, and the team went on to win the franchise’s first NBA championship, led by superstar LeBron James, in 2016. Gilbert’s personal fortune now totals about $8.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Gilbert’s companies “will continue under the normal, everyday direction of their respective CEOs,” Farner told Bloomberg.
In an emailed statement to HousingWire, Quicken confirmed the details of the report.
"Dan Gilbert and his family are grateful for the outpouring of support following the news of his hospitalization early Sunday," Farner, Quicken's CEO, said in the statement.
