LittleSis: Michael G Rubin

Rubin made $150 million when GSI Commerce, the ecommerce company he built from scratch in 1999, sold to eBay for $2.4 billion in 2011. As part of the deal, Rubin paid $500 million in cash and loans for majority ownership of three GSI assets eBay didn't want to digest. Apparel retailer Fanatics, flash sales website Rue La La, and Amazon Prime competitor ShopRunner are now wrapped under Rubin's holding company Kynetic. In March 2011, eBay agreed to buy GSI for $2.4 billion. A lifelong entrepreneur, Michael Rubin opened a ski-tuning shop in his parent's Lafayette, Pa. basement at age 12. By high school, he ran his own chain of sports shops. Fanatics, of which he has 72%, was valued at $3.1 billion in a 2013 venture round. He is a minority owner of basketball's Philadelphia 76ers. Today, Rubin has a net worth of about $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Seizing on the disruptive power of internet-based shopping, he has turned sports merchandiser Fanatics into an $18 billion powerhouse that sells everything from National Basketball Association jerseys to Kentucky Wildcat-themed portable barbecue grills. He owns about 40% of the company. Rubin, 49, built Fanatics out of scraps left over from a deal with eBay Inc. a decade ago. Now the Jacksonville, Florida-based firm -- which has tripled in value through multiple funding rounds over the past 12 months -- is using its newfound heft to become a disruptor. Last month, it dethroned Topps Co. as the go-to producer of baseball cards by reaching exclusive agreements with Major League Baseball and its players’ association. It also added agreements with the NBA and National Football League. “Fanatics came into the jersey and apparel space and absolutely took over,” said Mike Gioseffi, who co-hosts the podcast Sports Cards Nonsense. The speed and breadth of its recent moves into trading cards are “just unheard of.” Fanatics is seeking to expand even further, with plans to enter sports betting, ticketing and media, according to company management. The sports-gambling industry could be an especially ripe target. It’s in the midst of consolidation and takeovers three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 26-year-old law banning sports betting in a majority of states.

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Douglas D Durst	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres, Biden Action Fund
Daniel S Loeb	John McCain, Barack Obama, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Majority Committee PAC--MC PAC, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, Fair Just and Safe NY PAC, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
Seth Klarman	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
Marc Rowan	Bob Casey, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
David S Mack	Joe Biden, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Jon M Huntsman Jr, Romney Victory
John Catsimatidis	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Majority Committee PAC--MC PAC, Mitt Romney, Romney Victory, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
George J Tsunis	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, Obama Victory Fund 2012, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
Leon Black	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, Romney Victory, WinRed
Jack N. Halpern	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Majority Committee PAC--MC PAC, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Romney Victory
Leonard A Lauder	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Cory Booker, Jon M Huntsman Jr, Cory Booker for Senate
Leonard Blavatnik	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker
Ron Conway	Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Ron Wyden, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, Obama Victory Fund 2012, Romney Victory, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
David S Blitzer	Joe Biden, John McCain, Barack Obama, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
Andrew Sabin	Joe Biden, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Mitt Romney, Mehmet Oz, Jon M Huntsman Jr, Romney Victory, Doctor Oz For Senate
Michael J Leffell	Joe Biden, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Majority Committee PAC--MC PAC, Mitt Romney, WinRed, Torres For Congress, Ritchie John Torres
A Jerrold Perenchio	Joe Biden, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Majority Committee PAC--MC PAC, Mitt Romney, Jon M Huntsman Jr
Howard M Lorber	Joe Biden, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Romney Victory
John W Rowe	Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Majority Committee PAC--MC PAC, Mitt Romney, Jon M Huntsman Jr, WinRed
Emanuel Joshua Friedman	Joe Biden, Bob Casey, John McCain, Barack Obama, Arlen Specter, Ron Wyden, Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Mitt Romney, Cory Booker, Cory Booker for Senate
Marc Goldman	John McCain, Arlen Specter, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic National Committee, Republican Party of Florida, Mitt Romney, Mehmet Oz, Romney Victory, WinRed, Doctor Oz For Senate

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Douglas D Durst