Michigan State Walk-On Becomes Billionaire by Making Mortgages

  • Mat Ishbia to see windfall from mortgage lender’s listing
  • Former college basketball guard has stake worth $11.3 billion
SPACs Are a Great Way to Go Public, UWM CEO Says
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Mat Ishbia, a former college basketball player who’s now the chief executive officer of United Wholesale Mortgage, is set to become a billionaire after the lender his father founded said it would go public in a deal that values the business at $16 billion.

Gores Holdings IV Inc., a special-purpose acquisition company, and other investors agreed to acquire a roughly 6% stake in Pontiac, Michigan-based United, giving it a valuation that would mark the largest deal in which a firm went public by combining with a so-called blank-check company. The SPAC is run by Alec Gores, the brother of private equity billionaire and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.