Rubin is the founder and executive chairman of Fanatics, the world's largest retailer of officially licensed gear for US sports fans. The Jacksonsville, Florida-based company sells jerseys and apparel at sporting stadiums, flagship stores and online. The closely held company was valued at $31 billion in a December 2022 funding round.
Michael Rubin's net worth of $10.5B can buy ...
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The majority of Rubin's net worth derives from a minority stake in Fanatics, a sports merchandise company. It has the world's largest collection of officially licensed US fan gear, according to its website.
Fanatics was valued at $31 billion in a December 2022 funding round, according to a Bloomberg News report. Rubin owns about 33% of the company, according to a person familiar with an earlier funding round and Bloomberg calculations on subsequent dilution. The valuation was updated on Dec. 6, 2022 to reflect the latest funding round and this led to an increase in the calculation of $1.1 billion.
Rubin's other investments through holding company Kynetic aren't included because some details couldn't be verified.
Cash investments are valued based on an analysis of dividends, insider transaction, taxes and market performance.
A spokesman for Fanatics declined to comment on Bloomberg's net worth calculations.
Raised in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, Michael G. Rubin dropped out of Villanova University while still a freshman after buying and reselling some sports equipment for a profit of $75,000. Using the proceeds, he founded the athletic equipment company KPR Sports, which bought and sold overstock name brand merchandise, according to his website.
KPR's revenues increased from $1 million in 1993 to $50 million in 1995, the year Rubin turned 23. In 1998 Rubin created Global Sports, which later changed its name to GSI Commerce. GSI ran the e-commerce operations of major retailers, including K-Mart and Sports Authority.
EBay bought GSI Commerce in 2011 for $2.4 billion. As part of the transaction, Rubin bought back from eBay three GSI businesses that eBay wasn't interested in owning: ShopRunner, Rue La La, and Fanatics.
Over the next 10 years, Fanatics signed dozens of licensing agreements with professional sports teams and retailers to sell a large variety of sports gear. In March 2022 it was valued at $27 billion, according to Bloomberg News' reporting.