Michael G. Rubin
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michael G. Rubin (born July 21, 1972) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the CEO of
Fanatics Fanaticism (from the Latin adverb ''fānāticē'' ren-''fānāticus''; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm. Definitions Philosopher George Santayana ...
, the world's leading provider of licensed sports merchandise; and executive chairman Rue Gilt Groupe, the premier off-price e-commerce portfolio company, which includes RueLaLa.com, Gilt.com, and ShopPremiumOutlets.com. He previously founded GSI Commerce in 1998, selling it to
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
in 2011 for $2.4 billion. Rubin was a partner of the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
basketball team from 2011 and the
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
hockey team from 2013 before selling his stakes in
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment is an American sports and entertainment company headquartered in the Philadelphia metropolitan area that owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, the New Jersey Dev ...
, the holding company of both, in June 2022 to focus on the expansion of Fanatics. He is also the co-chair of the REFORM Alliance, a criminal justice reform organization that he launched in January 2019, together with
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
,
Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...
,
Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainment, ...
, and
Daniel S. Loeb Daniel Seth Loeb (born December 18, 1961) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive of Third Point, a New York-based hedge fund focused on event-driven, value-oriented investing with ...
, among others. Rubin has been included in the ''
Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is publ ...
: The Richest People in America'', the ''Forbes: The World's Billionaires'' list, and the ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index''. His personal wealth, as of November 2022, was valued at $10.2 billion.


Early life and education

Rubin was born to a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family, the son of Paulette and Ken Rubin. His mother was a psychiatrist and his father was a veterinarian.AOL: "Very Different Kind of Undercover Boss" By Lisa Johnson Mandell
March 20, 2010
He grew up in
Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania Lafayette Hill is an unincorporated community, primarily within Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. A small part of it is in Springfield Township. Lafayette Hill is located just west of ...
where he started a ski-tuning shop in his parents' basement when he was 12 and two years later, using $2,500 in bar mitzvah gifts as seed capital and a lease signed by his father, he opened a formal ski shop in
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania Conshohocken ( ; Lenape: ''Kanshihàkink'') is a borough on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in suburban Philadelphia. Historically a large mill town and industrial and manufacturing center, after the decline of industry i ...
named Mike's Ski and Sport. By the age of 16, he was some $120,000 in debt and was able to settle with his creditors using a $37,000 loan from his father under the condition he attend college. Rubin agreed, continuing to operate the business, which grew to five ski shops before he entered college. He attended
Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...
for a semester before dropping out after realizing a large gain on an opportunistic transaction. This involved buying $200,000 in overstock equipment at a deep discount with $17,000 borrowed from a friend and re-selling it for $75,000.


Career

Using the proceeds from his serendipitous overstock transaction and after selling his ski shops, he went on to found the athletic equipment closeout company ''KPR sports''—named after his parents' initials—which bought and sold over-stock name brand merchandise. In 1993, the year Rubin turned 21, KPR reached $1 million in annual sales; by 1995, KPR reached $50 million in sales. In 1995, Rubin purchased 40% of the women's athletic shoe manufacturer Rykä. In 1998, Rubin created an apparel and logistics company, Global Sports Incorporated, which would later turn into
GSI Commerce eBay Enterprise, Inc. (formerly GSI Commerce, Inc.) was a multinational e-commerce corporation that specialized in creating, developing and running online shopping sites for brick and mortar brands and retailers. The company also provided a varie ...
, a multibillion-dollar
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...
company. At 38, in 2011, Rubin sold GSI to
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
for $2.4
billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...
reaping a $150 million windfall.Forbes: "Newly-Minted Billionaire Is Spinning eBay Scraps Into Gold"
November 19, 2012
As eBay just wanted the order fulfillment business for large retailers so it could better compete with
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
, Rubin was able to buy back the consumer businesses of GSI at a
fire sale A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices. The term originated in reference to the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage. It may or may not be defined as a closeout, the final sale of goods to zero inventory ...
price. He repurchased:
Fanatics, Inc. Fanatics, Inc. is an American online manufacturer and retailer of licensed sportswear, sports collectibles, NFTs, trading cards, and sports merchandise, as well as sports betting and iGaming. The company began as an American  online retailer of ...
, a licensed sports merchandiser; Rue La La, a flash seller, and Shop Runner, a retail benefits program. Rubin serves as CEO of Fanatics and as executive chairman on Rue La La's board. In 2019, it was announced on
CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
that
Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
would team up with Rubin to take their mall inventory online and contribute $280 million to the venture. In December 2020, ShopRunner was sold to FedEx. Rubin has orchestrated partnership deals for Fanatics with more than 300 professional leagues, sports and teams, including deals with
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...
, the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
and
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
that granted Fanatics the rights to design, manufacture and distribute all Nike fan gear for both leagues. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Rubin shut down a Fanatics' MLB uniform manufacturing plant to generate hospital gowns and PPE for frontline workers. In August 2020, he secured $350 million Series E funding for Fanatics that raised the valuation of the company to $6.2 billion. In March 2021, Rubin and Fanatics secured a $320 million funding round, followed by another $325 million in August 2021 that brought the company's valuation to $18 billion as of September 2021. During the latter funding round, it was announced that Rubin would transition to the role of CEO of a new, larger Fanatics company that would expand beyond merchandising into new sports verticals in order to create a global digital sports platform. It was reported that these verticals may include
NFTs The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...
, a space Rubin entered in May 2021 by co-founding digital collectibles company Candy Digital; sports betting and gaming; trading cards, ticketing and media.


Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils stake

In October 2011, Rubin bought a minority share in the
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
. Rubin was a member of the investment group that won a $280 million bid for the team led by Josh Harris and
David Blitzer David Scott Blitzer (born September 7, 1969) is an American private equity investor and sports team owner. A native of New Jersey, he graduated from the Wharton School and joined Blackstone Inc in 1991, where he serves as head of their Tactic ...
. Other notable members include Art Wrubel,
Jason Levien Jason M. Levien (born 1973) is an American sports executive. He is the CEO and managing general owner of the Major League Soccer club D.C. United and co-owner of Swansea City, a Welsh football club, and the Brisbane Bullets, an Australian baske ...
,
Adam Aron Adam Maximilian Aron (born September 30, 1954) is an American businessman and the chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. More recently, he became a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, additionally serving as its CEO from 2011 to 2 ...
, Martin J. Geller, David B. Heller,
James Lassiter James Lassiter is an American film producer, known for being co-founder of Overbrook Entertainment and longtime business partner of actor and rapper Will Smith. Career Lassiter attended University of Miami and Temple University and befriended Jef ...
,
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...
,
Jada Pinkett Smith Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (; née Pinkett; born September 18, 1971) is an American actress and talk show host. She is co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show '' Red Table Talk'', for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. ''Time'' named ...
, and
Erick Thohir Erick Thohir (born 30 May 1970) is an Indonesian businessman and politician who has served as Indonesia's Minister of State Owned Enterprises since 2019. He is the founder of Mahaka Group, a conglomeration that focuses on media, sports and enter ...
.Philadelphia Inquirer: "Those who know him say Joshua Harris, soon-to-be Sixers owner, lives for competition and success" By Kate Fagan
August 02, 2011
The NBA formally approved the deal on October 13, 2011. In 2013, as a member of another investment group led by Harris and Blitzer, Rubin bought a share in the
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
and the
Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...
for $320 million. In 2022, Rubin sold his stakes in
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment is an American sports and entertainment company headquartered in the Philadelphia metropolitan area that owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, the New Jersey Dev ...
, the
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
of both teams, to David J. Adelman due to a
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
regarding Fanatics' growing sports betting business and player partnerships.


Media appearances

In addition to appearing in Forbes, Rubin has been interviewed or quoted in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'', ''
Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
'', ''
People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...
'', and ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
''. Rubin has also been featured on
Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...
,
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
and
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
. In 2010, he appeared in the premiere season of the CBS television show
Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...
, where he worked undercover in GSI Commerce's warehouse and call center. Once his identity was revealed at the end of the show, he gave an employee, who had recently struggled with the death of a baby, $10,000 so he and the baby's mother could have a dream wedding. Rubin has been a featured speaker and panelist at e-commerce and sports industry events including the
MIT Sloan The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, as ...
Sports Analytics Conferences, the
Wharton Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, Ch ...
Sports Business Summit,
Recode ''Recode'' (formerly ''Re/code'') is a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously c ...
's Code Commerce, and the
Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...
Innovation Festival.


Accolades

Rubin was honored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) at its Philadelphia Visionary Gala in 2011 for representing "the true spirit and determination of an entrepreneur" and serving as an inspiration to NFTE students. In 2011, ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' named him one of the year's "20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under." In 2018 Rubin was named to the inaugural
Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...
"Power 50" list of most influential people in sports. Rubin was included in Sports Business Journal's "Top 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business" every year between 2015 and 2019. Additionally, in 2021, Rubin was named Sports Business Journal's "Most Influential Person in Sports Business" and in 2022 was named their "Sports Executive of the Year."


Personal life

An avid sports fan since his youth, Rubin splits his time between the
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
area, near where he grew up, and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where in 2018 it was reported that he purchased a $43.5 million penthouse. Rubin is divorced from local dance teacher Meegan Rubin. They have one daughter named Kylie. Rubin had a second daughter, Romi Rubin, with professional model Camille Fishel in July 2020. Rubin formerly dated television news anchor and author
Nicole Lapin Nicole Lapin (born March 7, 1984) is an American television news anchor, author and businesswoman. She is known for being an American news anchor on CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg. Lapin also served as a finance correspondent for ''Morning Joe'' on MSNB ...
. He is a friend of rapper
Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...
. Rubin started the viral "All In Challenge", which raised more than $60 million to fight
food insecurity Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.


References


External links


Corporate Bio from Kynetic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Michael G. 1972 births Living people American billionaires American computer businesspeople 20th-century American Jews American retail chief executives Place of birth missing (living people) American technology chief executives American technology company founders Businesspeople from Pennsylvania Businesspeople in online retailing Jewish American sportspeople 21st-century American Jews Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment