Gail Miller (businesswoman)

Karen Gail Miller (nee Saxton, born October 14, 1943) is an American billionaire businesswoman, the wealthiest person in Utah, the widow of Larry H. Miller, chairwoman of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies and chairwoman of the Salt Lake Community College. She was the owner of the Utah Jazz, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise based in Salt Lake City, Utah, from her husband's death in 2009 until selling the team in 2020. She retains a minority stake.

For other people named Gail Miller, see Gail Miller (disambiguation).
Gail Miller
Born
Karen Gail Saxton

(1943-10-14) October 14, 1943[1]
Sandy, Utah, U.S.
OccupationChairwoman and owner, LHM Group
Former chairwoman and owner, Utah Jazz
Net worthUS$1.9 billion (February 2021)[1]
Spouse(s)Larry H. Miller (1965–2009)
Kim Wilson (2013–present)
Children5

Business interests

In 2009, when Larry H. Miller died, Gail Miller assumed total ownership of their businesses, consisting of 54 car dealerships, a movie theater chain and the Utah Jazz basketball team.[1] After assuming control of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, Miller implemented a training program to define and propagate the company's culture. In November 2020, her estimated net worth was $1.9 billion.[1] As of 2020, Miller is chair of the LHM Group.[2] As of early 2020, her businesses employed 11,000 people.[3]

Utah Jazz

Miller's husband originally became part-owner of the Utah Jazz in 1985 and purchased complete control in 1986. He purchased 50% equity in 1985 for $8 million and the remainder of the equity in 1986 for $14 million.

The Miller family started construction on the Delta Center, which would later become the Vivint Arena in 1990. It was completed in 1991. The arena has been an economic boon for downtown Salt Lake City. It has attracted large amounts of foot traffic and numerous businesses have been established nearby.[4]

Gail Miller assumed ownership upon her husband's death. In 2017, she announced ownership of the Utah Jazz and Vivint Smart Home Arena had been transferred into a Legacy Trust in order to keep the franchise in Utah for generations.[5] Gail and her late husband are often credited with saving the team and keeping it in Utah when the franchise was experiencing financial problems in the 1980s.[6][7][8]

In 2017, the Miller family spent $125 million renovating the Vivint Arena. The renovations were supervised by Steve Starks.[4]

In 2019, a fan verbally abused NBA player Russell Westbrook. Miller later addressed the home crowd to speak out against the boorish behavior and proclaimed, "This should never happen. We are not a racist community."[9]

In 2020, Jazz player Rudy Gobert donated $200,000 to team employees who were furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller announced said the LHM Group would "more than match" this number.[2]

In late October of 2020, the Miller family announced that it had agreed to sell the Jazz and the Vivint Smart Home Arena to Ryan Smith, founder of Qualtrics, for $1.66 billion. This price is about 70 times what the Miller family originally paid. Smith had a long-standing interest in the team. He even sponsored a jersey patch that raised $25 million for charity. Smith made proposals to the Miller family on several occasions before finally reach acceptable terms. Terms of the deal apparently require the team to remain in Utah. The Miller family will retain a minority interest in the Jazz. The Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League and management of the Salt Lake Bees minor league baseball team were also part of the deal.[6][7][8] The Miller family said they planned to use the profits from this sale to diversify their businesses and engage in more extensive philanthropy. The Millers rejected previous offers to buy the Jazz.[10]

Larry H. Miller Dealerships

Miller and her husband built a highly successful chain of car dealerships. These dealerships produced estimated sales of about $5.4 billion in 2019.[2][3] The Millers started by acquiring and renaming a Toyota dealership in 1979.[11]

Health care

The Larry H. Miller Group announced its purchase of Advanced Health Care, a chain of high-end nursing homes and hospices that also provides in-home health care. The purchase price was undisclosed. LHM Group said this acquisition was part of a broader effort to diversify their portfolio of businesses. Advanced Health Care that was founded in Idaho in 2001. It runs 22 facilities. Six of these are in Utah. The other facilities are in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, and New Mexico. The deal was finalized after two years of negotiations.This was LHM Group's first acquisition in health care.[4]

Philanthropy

In 2000, Brigham Young University announced that the Millers had made a significant financial contribution towards the new 4,000-seat, $7 million baseball and softball complex. Built on campus, the project was named Miller Park and the softball field was christened Gail Miller Field and the baseball field is called Larry H. Miller Field.[12] In 2011, the Joint Leadership Commission of the Congressional Award Foundation and its board of directors presented Miller the Horizon Award in a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. recognizing her work in the community and with young people.[13]

In 2013, Miller partnered with former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt and former First Lady Norma Matheson to create "Count My Vote," a bipartisan effort to push for state electoral reform.[14][15]

Miller donated $50 million to Intermountain Healthcare, a non-profit group of hospitals and clinics that serves children in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Alaska. This donation was the start of a $500 million fundraising campaign.[11]

In 2019, the Gail Miller Resource Center, dedicated to helping the homeless, opened in Salt Lake City.[16]

In late 2020, Miller decided to sell her late husband's coin collection, worth about $25 million, and donate the proceeds to Intermountain Healthcare. The donation will be used to build a second campus for the Primary Children's Hospital in Lehi.[17]

Personal life

She was born in Sandy, Utah, on October 14, 1943.[18]

She has five children from her first husband, Larry H. Miller (1944–2009), whom she married on March 25, 1965.[18] Miller married Kim Wilson in 2012. Miller is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[2]

Recognition

in 2019, Miller was named "Utahn of the Year" by The Salt Lake Tribune.[16]

In early 2020, Miller was one the recipients recognized via Ford's Salute to Dealers awards. The award was given in recognition of Miller's community service and philanthropy. Ford specifically mentioned the LHM Group's Larry H. Miller Day of Service that facilitates employees donating thousands of hours to helping the homeless, at-risk youth, families of severely ill children, and victims of domestic abuse.[19]

Politics

In 2020, Miller, along with many other business leaders, endorsed the gubernatorial campaign of Spencer Cox.[20]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Gail Miller". forbes. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. Voytko, Lisette (28 October 2020). "Who Is Gail Miller, The Car Dealership Tycoon Who Just Agreed To Sell The Utah Jazz?". Forbes. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  3. Finlay, Steven (15 February 2020). "Gail Miller: From Housewife to Owner of Business Empire". Wards Auto. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  4. Semerad, Tony (5 January 2021). "After selling the Utah Jazz, Larry Miller Group makes its first health care acquisition". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  5. "Miller family transfers ownership of Utah Jazz". NBA.com. 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  6. "Gail Miller and Family Announce Agreement to Sell a Majority Interest in the Utah Jazz to Qualtrics Founder Ryan Smith". UtahJazz.com (Press release). NBA Media Ventures, LLC. October 28, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  7. Wojnarowski, Adrian (28 October 2020). "Utah Jazz to be sold to Ryan Smith, ending Millers' three-decade run as owners". ESPN. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  8. Stein, Marc (28 October 2020). "Utah Jazz to Sell Majority Stake to Tech Entrepreneur". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  9. Jones, Tony (2019-03-15). "Jazz owner Gail Miller to The Athletic". The Athletic. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  10. Robinson, Doug (28 October 2020). "Inside Gail Miller's decision to sell the Utah Jazz". Deseret News. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  11. Di Mento, Maria (27 January 2020). "Billionaire Gail Miller Gives Intermountain Healthcare $50 Million; Howard U. Gets $10 Million (Gifts Roundup)". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  12. Call, Jeff (2000-02-09). "Y. names ballparks after Larry, Gail Miller". Deseret News. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  13. Romboy, Dennis (2019-06-20). "Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller honored in D.C. for contributions to community, young people". Deseret News. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  14. Gehrke, Robert (2019-07-29). "Norma Matheson, the 'godmother' of the Utah Democratic Party, dies at 89". Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  15. Gehrke, Robert (2013-09-13). "Norma Matheson, Leavitt to help lead Count My Vote". Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  16. Editorial Board (25 December 2019). "Utahn of the Year: Gail Miller shows us how to be our better selves". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  17. Staff (16 September 2020). "Utah Jazz owner to sell late-husband's $25M coin collection, donate money to children's hospital". Deseret News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  18. "Larry H. Miller Obituary". familysearch. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  19. Staff (19 February 2020). "Ford salutes Gail Miller for her devotion to community service". Deseret News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  20. Riley Roche, Lisa (4 June 2020). "Gail Miller, other business leaders endorse Spencer Cox for governor". Deseret News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.