Sports

Cleveland Cavalier's Owner Dan Gilbert Recovering After Stroke

Ideastream Public Media - WCPN News | By Kevin Anderson

Published May 28, 2019 at 12:33 PM EDT

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, 57, suffered a stroke and was hospitalized early on Sunday.

Gilbert's current condtiton and the stroke were confirmed late Monday. Press reports initially said Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, was experiencing "stroke-like symptoms" and had been admitted to the Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit but offered no additional information.

"Dan was not feeling well Sunday morning so he was taken to the hospital by a family friend. While under care at the hospital, he suffered a stroke and was immediately taken in for a catheter-based procedure, then moved to recovery in the Intensive Care Unit," said Quicken Loans CEP Jay Farner in a Monday statement. "Dan is awake, responsive and resting comfortably. Dan and his family are immensely grateful to the doctors and nurses whose early intervention is already paying dividends toward his recovery."

The Gilbert family has requested privacy and Farner's statement was released with their permission. Gilbert's companies continue to operate under normal daily direction of their respective CEOs, Farner said.

Gilbert has been keeping a busy schedule. On Tuesday morning, he introduced new Cavs head coach John Beilein at a press conference, and the Detroit News reported that he was set to speak at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference on Wednesday. His hospitalization comes 30 days before one of his companies, Rocket Mortgage, is set to host the first PGA Tour event in Detroit. It had also been just days since he launched an auto insurance ballot initiative in Michigan.

Gilbert's Quicken Loans is the largest mortgage lender in the United States. In addition to founding that company, he is also the founder and chairman of the Rock Family of Companies, a "portfolio of technology businesses and real estate investments," according to his biography on the Quicken Loans website. He moved the headquarters of his various businesses to the central business district of Detroit to support revitalization efforts there.

He has also been a key figure in revitalizing downtown Cleveland. He is the chairman of JACK Entertainment which, in 2012, opened the JACK Cleveland Casino in the former Higbee's department store building on Public Square.