“He doesn’t love me and I don’t love him.” Matt Ishbiathe new owner of the Suns, has never hidden his animosity for Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers. It must be said that the two men have been fighting each other for a long time. Both from Michigan State University, they live in the same Detroit suburb, a few minutes from each other, and above all they are competitors in the lucrative mortgage market.
“I could talk about it for hours or do it for a minute, and a minute is probably the easiest option: he doesn't like me and I don't like him.”Mat Ishbia explained to Bill Simmons. “I don't like the way he does business in a lot of areas. He probably doesn't like the way we do things. We are in the same city. We are in competition. We win. This is what's happening right now. »
Mat Ishbia is particularly proud that his company, “United Wholesale Mortgage”, has become the largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States, ahead of “Rocket Mortgage”, Dan Gilbert’s company.
Except that his methods to achieve first place are currently the subject of severe criticism.
A “playground bully”
ESPN notably published an article explaining that Mat Ishbia had imposed an ultimatum on small American brokers, explaining that they would no longer be able to work with his company if they continued to work with Dan Gilbert's. A pressure move that rather worked for the boss of the Suns and Mercury, since it allowed his company to finally move ahead of its competitor in the mortgage market. But at the cost of layoffs among small brokers, and an increase in rates for borrowers.
“He uses his power to intimidate and force the hand of those with less power”declared Mike Fawaz, an executive at Rocket Mortgage, during a recent event. “He is the playground bully, who takes lunch money from the youngest children every day. »
Rocket Mortgage executives also accuse Mat Ishbia of having put pressure on small American brokers by using the state of health of Dan Gilbert, who suffered a stroke a few years ago.
Just before, a new media, Hunterbrook, for his part, published an audio message attributed to Mat Ishbia, in which the billionaire explained in particularly flowery language how proud he was to have overtaken Rocket Mortgage in the mortgage market, promising to continue “to hit them every day”.
In response, Mat Ishbia accused Dan Gilbert and Rocket Mortgage of being behind these various articles.
“It’s Rocket Mortgage and Dan Gilbert doing Rocket Mortgage and Dan Gilbert, and that’s what started all this.”responded the owner of the Suns on Thursday when he was questioned at the inauguration of the team's new training center. “My focus is on Phoenix today, all the great things to come, and the people who know us and what we stand for.”
