Dealmaker Who Beat Topps for Baseball Cards Is Worth $8 Billion
Dealmaker Who Beat Topps for Baseball Cards Is Worth $8 Billion.
(Bloomberg) -- Michael Rubin was a freshman at Villanova University when he first displayed a knack for pulling off big deals. Using cash borrowed from a neighbor, he bought $200,000 of overstock sports equipment and soon resold it for a $75,000 profit.
He’s been pouncing on opportunities ever since.
Today, Rubin has a net worth of about $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Seizing on the disruptive power of internet-based shopping, he has turned sports merchandiser
Fanatics into an $18 billion powerhouse that sells everything from National Basketball Association jerseys to Kentucky Wildcat-themed portable barbecue grills. He owns about 40% of the company, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Rubin, 49, built Fanatics out of scraps left over from a deal with eBay Inc. a decade ago. Now the Jacksonville, Florida-based firm -- which has tripled in value through multiple funding rounds over the past 12 months -- is using its newfound heft to become a disruptor. Last month, it dethroned Topps Co. as the go-to producer of baseball cards by reaching exclusive agreements with Major League Baseball and its players’ association. It also added agreements with the NBA and National Football League.
“Fanatics came into the jersey and apparel space and absolutely took over,” said Mike Gioseffi, who co-hosts the podcast Sports Cards Nonsense. The speed and breadth of its recent moves into trading cards are “just unheard of.”
Sports Betting
Fanatics is seeking to expand even further, with plans to enter sports betting, ticketing and media, according to company management. The sports-gambling industry could be an especially ripe target. It’s in the midst of consolidation and takeovers three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 26-year-old law banning sports betting in a majority of states.
A Fanatics spokesperson declined to comment on the firm’s expansion plans or Rubin’s net worth. <---------- FANATICS SPAC?
Rubin, part-owner of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers through a reported 10% stake in Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, is also executive chairman of Rue Gilt Groupe, an e-commerce company that owns fashion retail websites Rue La La and Gilt.
THIS is why Villanova is on my kids target list!