Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fanatics. As an accomplished businessman, he has successfully established and scaled several multibillion-dollar, direct-to-consumer companies throughout his entrepreneurial career. Michael’s indomitable work ethic and forward-thinking leadership have shaped Fanatics into a global digital sports platform that ignites the passions of sports fans globally.

In addition to his leadership responsibilities and professional endeavors, Michael is a philanthropist and advocate for criminal justice reform. He champions positive advancements to prison and parole systems in the United States through REFORM Alliance — a nonprofit organization he co-founded and co-chairs — alongside some of the most recognized figures in culture, sports, and business. Another way Michael pursues societal change is through his board membership with the Fanatics Charitable Foundation. The Foundation helps conceptualize initiatives to improve and uplift the lives of Fanatics fans and employees, making a profound impact on the communities where they live and work. Michael also created the ALL IN Challenge, one of the largest digital fundraisers ever that raised $60M to feed those most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fanatics Foundation accomplished this historic feat by partnering with hundreds of renowned celebrities, athletes, entertainers, sports leagues, teams, and corporations. In collaboration, incredible prized possessions were donated and once-in-a-lifetime experiences were made possible via online auctions or sweepstakes.

Michael continues to be recognized as one of the most prominent figures in sports business for his work at Fanatics. He has been named on Bleacher Report’s “POWER 50” list of “Most Influential People in Sports” consecutively since 2015. Driven by Michael’s bold vision to reinvent the licensed sports industry, Fanatics has been named one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies in the World” by Fast Company, “Sports Business of the Year” by Yahoo! Finance, and was awarded the “Business Model of the Decade” (2010-2019) by Sports Business Journal.