Gores is founder and chief executive of Platinum Equity, a private equity outfit that manages about $36 billion. Its investments have included air cargo handler Worldwide Flight Services and out-of-home advertiser Exterion Media. Gores, who founded the Los Angeles-based firm in 1995, also owns the Detroit Pistons basketball team.
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Gores is the majority owner of closely held Platinum Equity, the Los Angeles-based private equity firm he founded in 1995, whose holdings have included Exterion Media and Worldwide Flight Services. The firm managed about $36 billion in July 2022, according to a press release. He's credited with a 85% stake based on a Bloomberg analysis of the firm's March 2022 ADV filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and his sale of an approximately 15% stake in the firm to Dyal Capital in 2017, according to news reports.
The company is valued using the $1 billion the firm received when it sold the minority stake, adjusted to account for the growth in AUM since and discounted to cost of compensation and 'key-man' risk associated with Gores's central position at the firm.
Gores also owns the Detroit Pistons NBA franchise, whose value is based on a December 2021 report by valuation consultants Sportico. Gores is the sole owner of the Pistons, according to a September 2015 article by Bloomberg News.
The billionaire has personally invested about $700 million into Platinum Equity buyout funds, according to disclosures made by Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System, a limited partner. His cash holdings are calculated by applying the cumulative internal rate of return of Platinum Equity's funds, as disclosed by LACERS, to his initial investments, and adjusted for typical market returns since June 25, 2019. The cost of buying the Pistons, his investments into Platinum Equity funds and the purchase price of other assets are netted off from this balance.
Dan Whelan, a partner at Platinum Equity, did not respond to a request for comment on Gores' net worth in May 2021.
Gores was born to Catholic parents in Nazareth, Israel in 1964. At age four, he moved with his family to Flint, Michigan, where he worked alongside his father at a small grocery store, according to a January 2016 Michigan Live article.
Gores graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in 1986. Early in his career, he began investing in small businesses, according to his personal website. He founded private equity group Platinum Equity in 1995. The firm acquired Exterion Media from CBS Corp. in 2013, and bought Worldwide Flight Services from a French private equity firm in 2015.
Gores, along with Platinum Equity, bought the Detroit Pistons in 2011. The firm made its exit in 2015, with the billionaire taking full ownership.
Gores lives in Beverly Hills, California with his wife and children. His older brother, Alec Gores, is the billionaire founder and CEO of The Gores Group, a private equity firm also based in Beverly Hills. They often compete for deals though sometimes join forces, as with their joint acquisition of Alliance Entertainment in 2011.