Wikipedia:Justin Ishbia

Justin Ishbia (born 1977) is an American billionaire businessman and the founder and managing partner of Shore Capital Partners a strategic private equity firm focused on microcap investing in the healthcare, food and beverage, business services and real estate industries with offices in Chicago and Nashville. In 2021, Forbes listed Ishbia and his brother Mat as the #2 and #1 ranked billionaires new to the 2021 World Billionaires list due to Special Purpose Acquisition Company investments. Forbes listed Justin as #1008 on the World Billionaires list in 2021. In April 2021, Chicago Business Journal named Justin among the richest people in Illinois.

In addition to his role as Managing Partner at Shore Capital, Justin sits on the board of directors of United Wholesale Mortgage (NYSE: UWMC) and has since 2011. United Wholesale Mortgage made its public trading debut in January 2021 and was the largest ever listing through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company at that time. UWM is the second largest mortgage lender behind Rocket Mortgage. Justin and his brother Mat took their father's small mortgage company, United Wholesale Mortgage (NYSE: UWMC), and built it into the second largest mortgage lender behind Rocket Mortgage. Justin's 22% stake in United Wholesale Mortgage was worth $4 billion when the company went public in January 2021. Justin continues to sit on the board of directors of United Wholesale Mortgage. He has been a member of UWM's advisory board since 2011.

Education
Ishbia attended Birmingham Seaholm High School in Bloomfield, Michigan, with plans to major in Pre-Law in college. Ishbia received a B.S. in Accounting from Michigan State University in 2000. He earned his J.D. and a certificate in Law and Business from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2004. In 2001, Ishbia was elected to the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust. He also serves as a member of the Vanderbilt University Law School Board of Advisors.

Career
Ishbia began his career as an attorney in the private equity group at Kirkland & Ellis in 2004. He also worked as an investment professional at Valor Equity Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm prior to founding Shore Capital Partners in 2009.

Ishbia currently sits on the board of directors for EyeSouth Partners, Southern Veterinary Partners, Mission Veterinary Partners, and 14 other Shore Portfolio Companies. He was also the former Chairperson of three exited Shore portfolio companies, Sirona Infusion, Michigan Rehabilitation Specialists/Excel Rehab, and ClearPath Diagnostics, as well as a past board member for Florida Autism Center and Navia Benefit Solutions, companies that Shore exited in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Shore Capital Partners
Shore Capital Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Nashville, which specializes in partnering with companies that have between $1–10 million of EBITDA. As of July 2021, Shore manages approximately $2.5 Billion, through four distinct verticals: (i) healthcare, (ii) food & beverage, (iii) business services, and (iv) real estate. Shore targets investments in proven, successful private companies with superior management teams, stable cash flow, and significant growth potential, organically and through industry consolidation.

Since its inception in 2009, Shore has completed 35 platform investments, over 500 add-on investments, and 8 successful exits. In July 2021, Shore announced the closing of three funds, Shore Capital Healthcare Partners Fund IV (“HC Fund IV”), which raised $366 million, Shore Capital Business Services Fund I (“BS Fund I”), which raised $213 million, and Shore Capital Real Estate Partners Fund I (“RE Fund I”), which raised $107 million. Since 2010, the firm has raised approximately $2.5 billion.

In February 2021, PitchBook named Shore Capital Partners as the Most Active PE Firm in the world during 2020. In October 2020, Shore was named to Inc.’s annual list of the most Founder-friendly private equity firms, the PE 50 The Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs. In 2021, Inc. again named Shore to its list of Founder-Friendly Investors, The Top PE and VC Firms for Entrepreneurs.

Philanthropy
In 2015, Ishbia established the “Justin R. Ishbia Scholarship” to provide financial support for students at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2021, Ishbia donated an additional $10 million to Vanderbilt University Law School to support key strategic priorities within the school and to strengthen its position as one of the nation's premier institutions for legal scholarship. In addition to his philanthropic support for Vanderbilt, Ishbia has been a guest lecturer at the Owen Graduate School of Management, delivering the keynote address at the annual Vanderbilt Entrepreneurship Conference twice.

In 2020, Ishbia spearheaded the development of the Shore Capital Charitable Foundation, a non-profit non-government organization. The foundation was formed during the COVID-19 crisis to provide tax-free financial assistance to individuals and families impacted by COVID-19 through job loss, medical expenses, etc. The Foundation continues to aid Shore Capital portfolio company team members, their families, and communities in a variety of ways.

In 2021, Ishbia donated $1 million to the V Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money to support cancer research.

Personal life
Ishbia is married to Kristen Ishbia. The couple lives in Chicago, Illinois with their two children, and their dog, a yellow lab named Sheffield.

Outside of the office, Ishbia is a member of the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust and Rush University Medical Center Board of Trustees, and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). Ishbia is a member of the Museum of Science and Industry Board. Additionally, Ishbia has been a guest lecturer at the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management, Loyola University of Chicago Law School, and the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. Ishbia is a member of the State Bar of Illinois and a Certified Public Accountant.

Ishbia is a minority investor in Nashville Major League Soccer Franchise, the Nashville Soccer Club, alongside majority owner John Ingram, chairman of Ingram Industries and Ingram Content Group.

Ishbia made news in 2021 with his purchase of a 3.3-acre homesite on Lake Michigan in Winnetka, Illinois. The $23.9 million Ishbia has spent assembling the Winnetka parcel exceeds the highest recorded sale price of any Chicago-area single-family home. The former record-holder was Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky’s $19.5 million purchase of a Glencoe mansion in 2014. Ishbia assembled the 3.3-acre lakefront parcel by swapping land with the Winnetka Park District. The arrangement allowed the park district to realize its long-term goal of connecting two lakefront parks, Elder Lane Park and Centennial Park. Ishbia's purchase of the "La Campana" mansion in Naples, Florida for $36 million was the topic of similar headlines in Southwest Florida. The sale of the Naples property is listed as one of the 10 most expensive residential realty sales in the state of Florida; the sale was also the biggest real estate deal in Florida in 3 years, at time of purchase.