Gail Miller (businesswoman)

Karen Gail Miller (nee Saxton, born October 14, 1943) is an American businesswoman. After the death of her husband Larry H. Miller, she became chairwoman of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies (LHM Group). With a net worth of $1.9 billion she is the wealthiest person in Utah. She held a controlling interest in 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
Spouse(s)Larry H. Miller (1965–2009)
Kim Wilson (2013–present)
Children5

Business interests

In 2009, when her husband, Larry, died, Gail Miller assumed total ownership of their businesses, the LHM Group, consisting of 54 car dealerships, a movie theater chain, and the Utah Jazz.[1] In November 2020, her estimated net worth was $1.9 billion.[1][2] As of early 2020, her businesses employed 11,000 people.[3]

Utah Jazz

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 transferred ownership of the Utah Jazz and Vivint Arena into a legacy trust in order to keep the franchise in Utah for generations.[5] The Millers 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 that the LHM Group would "more than match" this number.[2]

In October 2020, the Miller family agreed to sell the Jazz and Vivint 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 reaching acceptable terms. Terms of the deal require the team to remain in Utah and the Miller family will retain a minority interest. 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]

Sports & entertainment

Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment manages the LHM Group's interests in the Utah Jazz, Salt Lake Bees, Salt Lake City Stars, Megaplex Theaters, Zone Sports Radio network, and other related businesses.[11]

Car dealerships

The Millers started by acquiring and renaming a Toyota dealership in 1979.[12] Miller and her husband built a successful chain of car dealerships. These dealerships produced estimated sales of about $5.4 billion in 2019.[2][3]

In September 2021, Asbury Automotive announced that it was purchasing the LHM Group's car dealerships for about $3.2 billion.[13] The dealerships will retain the Larry H. Miller branding.[14]

Health care

In January 2021, the LHM Group announced its purchase of Advanced Health Care (AHC), a chain of high-end nursing homes and hospices that also provides in-home health care. The purchase price was undisclosed. The LHM Group said the acquisition was part of a broader effort to diversify their portfolio of businesses. AHC was founded in Idaho in 2001 and runs 22 facilities, including six 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]

Real estate

In 2021, the LHM Group's real estate subsidiary acquired the remaining 1,300 acres undeveloped of land and numerous buildings in Daybreak, a mixed-use development in South Jordan in Salt Lake County. It was acquired from Varde Partners. The LHM Group plans to build approximately 6,000 additional homes in Daybreak.[15]

Philanthropy
Plaque at Miller Park--BYU

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.[16]

In 2007, Miller and her husband established the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation.[17]

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.[18][19]

Miller donated $50 million to Intermountain Healthcare (IHC), 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.[12] Miller has served as a member of IHC's board of trustees since 2013 and its chair since 2018.[20]

In 2019, it was reported that Miller had set-up a process for young members of her family, starting at the age of 12, to participate in philanthropy. They may select registered non-profit organizations and then prepare proposals to support them for submission to the board of the family foundation.[17]

In 2019, the Gail Miller Resource Center, dedicated to helping the homeless, opened in Salt Lake City.[21]

In late 2020, Miller decided to sell her late husband's coin collection, worth about $25 million, and donate the proceeds to IHC. The donation will be used to build a second campus for the Primary Children's Hospital in Lehi.[22]

In 2021, Miller made a $10 million donation to Shelter the Homeless through her charitable foundation. Shelter the Homeless runs three resource centers for homeless people in Salt Lake City.[23]

Personal life

Miller was born in Sandy, Utah, on October 14, 1943.[24]

She and Larry Miller, whom she married on March 25, 1965, are the parents of five children.[24] Miller married Kim Wilson in 2012. Miller is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[2]

Recognition

In 2012, Miller was recognized with the ATHENA International Award. The award is sponsored by Wells Fargo and presented by the Salt Lake Chamber.[25]

In 2015, Miller received the Giant in our City award. This award is generally regarded as the most prestigious business award in Utah. It is presented by the Salt Lake Chamber.[26]

In 2019, 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.[27]

In 2019, Miller was named "Utahn of the Year" by The Salt Lake Tribune.[21]

In early 2020, Miller was one of 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.[28]

Politics

In 2020, Miller, along with many other business leaders, endorsed the Republican gubernatorial campaign of Spencer Cox.[29]

References
  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. Larsen, Andy (9 May 2020). "LHM Sports & Entertainment — the company that runs Jazz, Bees and Megaplex Theaters — furloughing 40% of workforce".
  12. 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.
  13. Huetter, John (3 December 2021). "Asbury moves forward on Larry H. Miller deal with $1.5 B loan, $600M stock offfer". Automotive News.
  14. Rollins, Jenny (14 October 2021). "Here's what Gail Miller says is next for the Larry H. Miller Group". Deseret News.
  15. Lee, Jasen (12 April 2021). "Larry H. Miller Group sees 'intriguing' opportunity with purchase of Daybreak". Deseret News. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  16. Call, Jeff (2000-02-09). "Y. names ballparks after Larry, Gail Miller". Deseret News. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  17. Lee, Jasen (27 April 2019). "Gail Miller wants her grandchildren to learn generosity, and she's got a plan to do it". Deseret News. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. Wayman, Ric (10 May 2018). "Gail Miller named chairwoman of Intermountain Healthcare board". St. George News. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. McKellar, Katie (12 May 2021). "'We did it'; Utahns achieve $10 million matching grant for new homeless centers". Deseret News. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  24. "Larry H. Miller Obituary". familysearch. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  25. Staff (15 November 2012). "Gail Miller named 2012 ATHENA Award recipient". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  26. Lockhart, Ben (26 March 2015). "Gail Miller honored as "Giant In Our City"". Deseret News.
  27. 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.
  28. Staff (19 February 2020). "Ford salutes Gail Miller for her devotion to community service". Deseret News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  29. Riley Roche, Lisa (4 June 2020). "Gail Miller, other business leaders endorse Spencer Cox for governor". Deseret News. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
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