The guy was selling stuff before he could drive. Michael Rubin started a ski-tuning business at 12 years old, ran a jewelry business in high school, and basically never stopped. That restless hustle eventually led him to build one of the biggest e-commerce companies most people have never heard of.
In 1995 he founded GSI Commerce, which handled e-commerce operations for other businesses. It grew fast. By 2011, eBay bought it for $2.4 billion. But the part Rubin kept? The sports merchandise division. That became Fanatics, which is now the dominant player in licensed sports gear online. If you've bought an official jersey in the last few years, there's a good chance Fanatics was involved somewhere in that transaction.
He's also a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, and Crystal Palace F.C. over in England. So yeah, the sports world is kind of his thing.
On Shark Tank, Rubin brings a perspective that's hard to find among the other sharks. He's built massive e-commerce infrastructure from scratch, he understands retail at scale, and he's seen what happens when a company goes from scrappy startup to billion-dollar exit. That experience shows in how he evaluates pitches.
Outside of business, he co-founded the REFORM Alliance alongside Jay-Z and Meek Mill, focused on criminal justice reform. He also helped organize the "All In Challenge" during COVID, which raised millions for hunger relief.
A few other things worth knowing:
- Co-owner of three professional sports teams across two continents
- Built GSI Commerce from startup to a $2.4 billion eBay acquisition
- Co-founded the REFORM Alliance for criminal justice reform
- Organized the "All In Challenge" during the pandemic for hunger relief