Dan Gilbert Donates $30M To Cranbrook Art Academy For Diversity Initiative

Billionaire Dan Gilbert — the co-founder of Quicken Loans and chairman of Rocket Companies Inc RKT — and his wife Jennifer are donating $30 million to the Cranbrook Academy of Art, a private school in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. 

What Happened: Less than two weeks after Gilbert announced a $500-million investment in the city of Detroit via his Gilbert Family Foundation and the Rocket Community Fund, Cranbrook announced a $30-million investment that the school will reportedly invest in addressing community concerns over diversity, equity and inclusion. 

The gift will also help fund entrepreneurial initiatives that the school hopes will help engage the community and generate non-tuition revenue for Cranbrook.

The donation is the largest in the history of Cranbrook and is believed to be the largest single donation to any graduate art program in the country, according to Crain's.

Related Link: How Dan Gilbert Became A $50B Man

Why It’s Important: The Gilbert Fellows program will pay the $40,000 annual tuition for up to 20 students.

Jennifer Gilbert serves as chair of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum’s board of governors, a position she has held for the last four years.

The first $15 million of the $500 million Detroit revitalization investment announced last month by the Gilberts is funding the Detroit Tax Relief Fund, which will help local residents pay off property tax debt.

With a net worth of nearly $50 billion, Gilbert is one of the 30 wealthiest people in the world, according to Forbes.

In addition to owning roughly 79% of Quicken Loans parent company Rocket Companies, Gilbert is also the owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Quicken has been headquartered in Detroit since 2010 and has 24,000 employees.

Rocket went public in August 2020 at an IPO price of $18 per share. Today, the stock trades above $23.

What’s Next: Rocket investors may be watching to see how Gilbert spends the $500 million he has devoted to Detroit in coming years.

In the meantime, they're hoping the boom in the U.S. mortgage market will continue to drive Rocket's stock higher.

Dan and Jennifer Gilbert. Photo by Dustin Blitchok.