Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin (born July 21, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and the founder and chief executive officer of Fanatics, Inc., a leading digital sports platform that operates in licensed merchandise, apparel, trading cards, collectibles, sports betting, and live events.

Rubin began his business career as a child, selling vegetable seeds door-to-door at age eight and launching a ski-tuning operation from his parents' basement at twelve, which evolved into Mike's Ski and Sport stores by age fourteen using his bar mitzvah savings. After briefly attending Villanova University and dropping out following a successful overstock deal, he founded KPR Sports in 1993, scaling it to $50 million in sales by 1995 through acquisitions like a stake in women's athletic shoe brand Ryka. In 1998, he established Global Sports Interactive (later GSI Commerce), an e-commerce pioneer that powered online sales for major retailers and was sold to eBay for $2.4 billion in 2011.

Post-eBay acquisition, Rubin repurchased Fanatics—a former GSI division—and transformed it into a dominant force in sports commerce, securing exclusive licensing deals with major leagues and expanding aggressively into adjacent markets like trading cards (acquiring Topps) and Fanatics Sportsbook. The company, valued at $31 billion in 2022 and estimated at $25 billion currently, underpins Rubin's billionaire status through his significant ownership stake. Previously a minority partner in the Philadelphia 76ers for over a decade, Rubin divested his interest in 2022 to eliminate conflicts and concentrate on Fanatics' growth. He also co-founded the REFORM Alliance to advocate for criminal justice reforms, such as easing probation and parole restrictions.