Billionaire Dan Gilbert Is Looking to Save Detroit Again, This Time From Coronavirus
Detroit billionaire and Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert is marshaling his businesses to pitch in and help after a surge in coronavirus cases has the city girding itself for the possibility it becomes the latest hot spot in the fast-moving pandemic.
Gilbert, a Detroit native who made his $6.6 billion fortune in the mortgage business, has been key to the city’s resurgence since the global financial crisis led it to file for the largest municipal bankruptcy ever. Starting in 2010, he purchased and renovated dozens of properties downtown and moved his own employees into many of them, prompting Chrysler, Microsoft, Twitter and other companies to follow. He now controls more than 100 companies and has committed them to offer millions of dollars of financial support and services for the city.
“We have the relationships with the folks running the local hospitals with the mayor. So we are not only invited to the table, but in many cases we’re able to create the table that we’re all going to sit at,” says Jay Farner, Quicken’s CEO. “They're willing to trust and turn over some of the responsibility to us and say, ‘Sure, if you guys can make masks, do it.’”
Detroit is as susceptible as any other urban area to the spread of COVID-19, but with a large share of residents living below the poverty line—about 37%—its population of 670,000 is particularly vulnerable. As of Thursday, Wayne County, where Detroit is located, had 4,470 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 146 deaths. The chief of police has tested positive, and hundreds of police officers are in quarantine.
Efforts announced today include a plan to produce 500,000 surgical masks per week for local healthcare workers, thanks to the Quicken Loans Community fund’s purchase of the necessary machine, which when it arrives from China next month will be the first in the region. The Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center will train workers and manage production in a space provided by the Dearborn, Michigan-based apparel company Carhartt. The fund, along with Gilbert’s family foundation, also announced a $1.2 million donation to help coronavirus efforts in Detroit.
Gilbert is the majority owner of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, who announced they are “developing a compensation plan to continue paying our event staff and hourly workforce.” His real estate firm, Bedrock, announced it would waive all rent, building expenses and parking fees during April and May for restaurants and retailers with less than $100 million in annual sales. His companies will match employee donations to relief efforts, which have totaled $550,000 so far. Quicken and Rock Connections will also reassign about 100 call center employees to help schedule appointments at a drive-up COVID-19 testing site at the Michigan State Fairgrounds.
“The Rocket Mortgage and Rock Family of Companies continues to step up to the plate as a partner for the city and its residents,” Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit said in a statement.