Dan Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Rock Ventures, has divested all remaining interest in the Cleveland-based casino operator Jack Entertainment.
The move represents an exit from gaming for the billionaire, who founded and served as chairman of the company that would operate two Ohio casinos, acquired the Greektown casino in Detroit, and partnered with Caesars Entertainment to open the Horseshoe Baltimore.
Other than maintaining a small, passive interest in Horseshoe Baltimore, Gilbert will be essentially out of the casino business. “In December 2020, Dan Gilbert divested his interest in the Cleveland Jack Entertainment Casino, which is reflective of Dan’s positioning to pivot away from the casino industry in general,” said Rock Ventures spokesman Aaron Walker in an email to Crain’s Detroit Business.
Last March, Gilbert sold his controlling interest in Jack Entertainment to then-CEO Matt Cullen and a management team of about 15 people, Cullen told Crain’s. The company’s headquarters moved from Detroit to Cleveland at that point.
Cullen is now principal and chairman of Jack Entertainment. The company employs 1,400 and generates $500 million in annual revenue. The management team will be based in Cleveland, but Cullen will remain in Detroit, where he remained following Gilbert’s 2019 sale of Greektown, along with Jack Cincinnati and Kentucky’s Turfway Park.
“Moving forward, Dan and Jennifer Gilbert are focusing their energy and resources on the Gilbert Family Foundation and other projects that highlight their passion for Detroit and the cities the Rock Family of Companies calls home,” Walker told Crain’s.
