How Michael Rubin built Fanatics from unsold inventory into the official jersey supplier for the NFL and MLB.
Michael Rubin started tuning skis in his parents' basement at 14 and built Fanatics into a $31 billion sports empire by becoming the official jersey manufacturer for the NFL and Major League Baseball.
He opened a ski shop in his parents' basement using $2,500 in bar mitzvah money. When a winter with no snow left him with $120,000 in bills, his father paid the debts on the condition that he attend college.
He discovered that brands had unsold inventory sitting in warehouses and bought overstock merchandise in bulk at discounted prices, then resold it at higher prices. He repeated this truckload after truckload across different brands.
After eBay bought GSI Commerce in 2011 and wanted to divest Fanatics, Michael Rubin bought it for $500 million with $467 million in eBay financing. The turning point came when he signed exclusive deals with the NFL and Major League Baseball to manufacture, not just sell, their official jerseys, giving him revenue from every jersey sold by those leagues.
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