Gordon Gund | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1939-10-15)October 15, 1939 (age 86) |
| Alma mater | M.A.Harvard University |
| Occupation(s) | businessman, sports entrepreneur, sports franchise owner, investment corporation |
| Known for | CEO of Gund Investment Corporation, former owner ofCleveland Cavaliers,Cleveland Rockers, and former co-owner ofSan Jose Sharks |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | George Gund II Jessica Laidlaw Roesler |
| Relatives | George Gund III (brother) Agnes Gund (sister) Graham Gund (brother) |
| Awards | 2016 NBA Champion, Cleveland Cavs Wall of Honor (class of 2022) |
Gordon Gund (born October 15, 1939) is an American businessman and professional sports owner. He is theCEO of Gund Investment Corporation. He is the former co-owner of theSan Jose Sharks (National Hockey League) from 1992 to 2002, former principal owner of theCleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association) from 1983 to 2005, and former principal owner of theCleveland Rockers (Women's National Basketball Association) from 1997 to 2003. Gund lost his sight toretinitis pigmentosa and was a co-founder ofFoundation Fighting Blindness.
Gund's brother,George, held a minority interest in theCalifornia Golden Seals of the NHL. The Seals had never been able to find success either on the ice or at the box office, and after plans for a proposed new arena in San Francisco were cancelled in 1976, he convinced majority ownerMel Swig to relocate the franchise from Oakland to the Gunds' hometown in June of that year. Renamed theBarons after the popular formerAmerican Hockey League team, they played atThe Coliseum inRichfield, which had been vacated by theCleveland Crusaders of theWorld Hockey Association when they moved toSaint Paul, Minnesota to become the second incarnation of theMinnesota Fighting Saints.
The Barons only drew 10,000 or more fans in seven out of their 40 home games. They were also troubled by an unfavorable lease with the Coliseum. In January 1977, Swig hinted the team might not finish the season because of payroll difficulties. The Barons actually missed payroll twice in a row in February, and only a $1.3 million loan allowed the Barons to finish the season. They finished last in theAdams Division, and Swig sold his interest in the team to the Gund's.
The Gunds' poured money into the team, and it seemed to make a difference at first. The Barons stunned the defending Stanley Cup championMontreal Canadiens on November 23 before a boisterous crowd of 12,859. After a brief slump, general managerHarry Howell pulled off several trades in an attempt to make the team tougher. It initially paid off, and the Barons knocked off three of the NHL's top teams, theToronto Maple Leafs,New York Islanders andBuffalo Sabres in consecutive games in January 1978. A few weeks later, a record crowd of 13,110 saw the Barons tie thePhiladelphia Flyers 2–2. The bottom fell out in February, however, as a 15-game losing skid knocked the Barons out of playoff contention.
At the end of the1977–78 season, plans to buy the Coliseum outright fell through, and the Barons' small crowds and continuing struggles placed the franchise's viability in serious doubt. Meanwhile, the ownership of theMinnesota North Stars could no longer sustain the team. Since Minnesota was perceived as the more desirable hockey market at the time,NHL PresidentJohn Ziegler oversaw a merger between the two franchises, with the Gund's assuming ownership of the North Stars.[1] Minnesota moved into Cleveland's position in the Adams Division. Within three seasons, the North Stars would make the1981 Stanley Cup Finals, thanks to the Gund's willingness to invest in the team and the addition of a number of talented players, including goaltenderGilles Meloche, from the Barons' roster.
After the NHL geographically realigned their divisions in1981, placing the North Stars in the rough-and-tumbleNorris Division, the Gund's would see attendance drop at theMetropolitan Sports Center while the team struggled on the ice. While there was a strong core of die-hard fans, the team often struggled to sell out its home games.
By 1990, the Gunds had decided on a plan to relocate the franchise to theSan Francisco Bay Area, the market they had vacated some 14 years earlier. Ziegler and the league refused to allow this move, but allowed the Gund's to sell the North Stars toHoward Baldwin and granted them an expansion team in the Bay Area, which became theSan Jose Sharks, to start play in the1991–92 season.[2]
With an expansion roster, the Sharks finished last in the NHL standings in their first two seasons, when they played out of the oldCow Palace, a facility the Seals and the NHL had rejected in 1967. With the opening of theSan Jose Arena in 1993, however, the Gund's would be able to spend more on the team, and they made waves throughout the NHL with high-profile first-round upsets in the 1994 and 1995 playoffs. While the franchise could not maintain consistent success on the ice, they have enjoyed a high level of popularity, and their home arena is consistently one of the loudest in the NHL.
In February 2002, the Gund's sold the Sharks to a consortium, namedSan Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises (SJSE). Gordon sold his share outright while George retained an ownership share as one of the partners in SJSE.
The Gunds purchased majority interest in theCleveland Cavaliers fromTed Stepien for $20 million on April 7, 1983. Stepien's Nationwide Advertising Service, Inc. and new cable television station Sports Exchange were also part of the sale.[3][4] The transaction was approved by theNational Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors one month later on May 9. The league also arranged for the Gunds to pay a cash sum for a first-round selection in each of the subsequent fourNBA drafts to recover the ones traded away by Stepien.[5] They succeeded in keeping the team inCleveland, Ohio and atRichfield Coliseum, which they also owned. Stepien had threatened to move the team toToronto.[6] The Gund's replaced the team's logo and uniform design, replacing the "swashbuckling swordsman" with the team's nickname of 'Cavs' with a stylized 'V' made of a net and basketball.[7]
Under the Gund's ownership, attendance figures started to rise, and the Cavs enjoyed a period of competitiveness on the basketball court. In the1994–95 season,Gund Arena was built and replaced the Coliseum, and attendance figures stayed high. According to the Cavs' media guide, the Cavs had the highest attendance figures in franchise history in 15 of the last 16 seasons, heading into the 2004–05 season.
His most notable achievement in the final years of his ownership was drafting high school prodigy andAkron, Ohio nativeLeBron James with the first-overall pick in the2003 NBA draft, a move which helped rejuvenate interest among the fan base. In 2005, Gund sold controlling interest of the team to Quicken Loans founder and billionaireDan Gilbert, maintaining a minority ownership stake for himself.[4] Gund has anNBA championship to his credit via his status as minority owner of the team during the2015–16 title-winning season. In April 2021, Gund's minority share was bought by majority owner Dan Gilbert.[8]
The city ofCleveland was granted one of the original 8 franchises of theWNBA in October 1996.[9] TheCleveland Rockers got their nickname from Cleveland'sRock and Roll Hall of Fame.[10] In 1997, they started with such players likeIsabelle Fijalkowski and formerHarlem Globetrotters memberLynette Woodard, who had been the first female player in Globetrotter history.[11] In October 2003, Gund announced that his Gund Arena Company would no longer operate the Rockers. The team folded after the 2003 season as the league was not able to find new ownership for the team.
Gund Arena became a cornerstone of the redevelopment ofDowntown Cleveland, which was also bolstered byJacobs Field, theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the newCleveland Browns Stadium. Under Gund's ownership the Cavs also hosted the1997 NBA All-Star Game. The Gund's would also operate one of the founding franchises of theWNBA, theCleveland Rockers. They would also bring hockey to Gund Arena, in a revived version of theCleveland Barons, who were the top minor-league affiliate of the Gund'sSan Jose Sharks when theInternational Hockey League'sCleveland Lumberjacks folded.
In addition to his sports franchise interests, Gund and his family have large interests in public companies such asKellogg's (6.3%)[12] andAlign Technology (5.6%)[13] In 2015Forbes estimated his family's net worth at $3.5 billion.[14] In 2014, along with his wife, Gund signedThe Giving Pledge, committing to give a majority of his wealth to philanthropy.[15]
A native ofCleveland, Ohio, Gund is a member of one of the city's prominent families. His fatherGeorge Gund II was president and chairman ofCleveland Trust when it was Ohio's largest bank.[16] Gund II was famous for hiding his wealth from his family and hiding his philanthropy.[16] His sister,Agnes, is a well known philanthropist in her own right.
Gordon Gund resided with his late wife, Llura, inPrinceton, New Jersey; together they had two children. Gund has also owned a large home on the north shore ofNantucket since 1978.[17][18][19]
Gordon Gund attendedHarvard University, where he majored in physical sciences and sociology and played ice hockey.[1] He served in theUnited States Navy, becoming department head on two destroyers.[1] He then started a banking career, specializing in corporate finance.[1] He gradually began going blind in the 1960s due toretinitis pigmentosa. By 1970, Gund was totally blind.[1] In 1971, Gund co-founded theRetinitis Pigmentosa Foundation (now known as TheFoundation Fighting Blindness) which supports research to find cures and treatments for retinal degenerative diseases.[16] The blindness did not prevent him from being active in business and philanthropy. Gund is the former President of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Groton School inGroton, Massachusetts. He has honorary doctorates fromUniversity of Gothenburg in Sweden,University of Maryland, Baltimore,Whittier College[20] and theUniversity of Vermont. He formerly served as director of the Kellogg Company ofBattle Creek, Michigan, and ofCorning Incorporated inCorning, New York. Gund is chairman emeritus and a director of the board of directors of The Foundation Fighting Blindness.
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