Dan Gilbert's family asks for privacy while business mogul is hospitalized

Billionaire cancels appearance Wednesday at Mackinac Policy Conference

DETROIT – Dan Gilbert’s family is asking for privacy while the business mogul is hospitalized after suffering strokelike symptoms.

UPDATEDan Gilbert 'responsive and resting comfortably' after stroke

And while we don’t know the severity of his symptoms, we do know it is serious enough that he has canceled an appearance Wednesday at the Mackinac Policy Conference. 

For a man with such a huge stake in Detroit’s comeback, there’s a lot riding on his speedy recovery. 

The Q-Line, Detroit's attempt to show the city is ready for mass transit, it's all Gilbert. He is also behind the Hudson's project, an initiative aimed at creating a building taller than the Renaissance Center.  

Scooters on the sidewalk, people dining Al Fresco outside on Woodward Avenue, that is all because of Gilbert too.  

In 2014 Bedrock showed us Gilbertville, all the 65 buildings lit up here owned by the Detroit native who longs to make the city what it once was, a younger version of Mike Ilitch with more money.

Since then he has added to his Detroit holdings and breathed a life into downtown Detroit it has not seen in generations.

In an interview with Local 4's Evrod Cassimy, Gilbert tried to dispel the notion he is Detroit's savior. 

"No one person or one company can be, not us, not GM, not Chris Ilitch. All we want to see is the best Detroit possible and we can't have the best Detroit possible unless we have the city, the neighborhoods and downtown grow together," Gilbert said in the interview. 


About the Authors:

Rod Meloni is an Emmy Award-winning Business Editor on Local 4 News and a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional.