feud

NICK MANES ere’s a classic line in the 1995 crime movie “ e Usual Suspects” in which one character asks another — regarding the death of a colleague — “Was it business? Or personal?” e line also speaks to the long-simmering feud between metro Detroit businessmen Dan Gilbert and Mat Ishbia. e latest was news the night of Feb. 6 that the NBA’s board of governors had approved the bid of Ishbia — the chairman, president and CEO of Pontiac-based mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage — and his Chicago-based brother Justin Ishbia to acquire a controlling stake in the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury franchises. e vote Monday evening was 29-0 — with the Cleveland Cavaliers abstaining, according multiple media reports. e Cavs franchise is owned by Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Rocket Companies Inc., the Detroit-based parent company of Rocket Mortgage. Gilbert’s company was for years the largest mortgage lender in the country until late last year when the crown was taken by Ishbia’s company, headquartered less than 30 miles away straight up Woodward Avenue.

“A bit of both,” the other responds.

While no one quite knows how much is business or how much is personal, there were two very public examples of the dueling between two of metro Detroit’s largest employers last week.

Rivalry in business is nothing new, but the cutthroat nature of the mortgage business and two billionaires with comparable ambitions makes for a competition that’s played out in public in ways not often seen in the world of big business.

Representatives for the NBA, Cavaliers and Suns did not respond to Crain’s requests for comment.

Chef: Great Lakes category, which includes Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. e bulk of the semi nalists in the category are in Detroit and Chicago along with Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Berens, one of 13 James Beard Awards semifinalists in metro Detroit and Michigan announced Jan. 25, didn’t think she had a shot at the honor and learned the news from a friend and chef in Washington, D.C.

She joined Granor Farms in 2017 after helping open Local Foods Market in Chicago in 2015 and the spotlight still managed to nd her. is is Berens’ second regional chef seminalist nod, the rst coming in 2020 when she was also nominated in the JBA vegetable-focused cooking category for her cookbook “Ru age.”

“I didn’t think (the James Beard Foundation) showcased chefs in rural areas,” Berens told Crain’s. “It feels like an honor to have an establishment like the Beard Foundation recognize that there are a lot of ways to have great food in di erent settings.”

Granor Farm, founded in 2006, is not a restaurant but a certi ed organic farm that grows vegetables, owers, herbs and grains. Berens, who lives in nearby Galien with her husband and child, admits ne dining isn’t part of the farm’s culture. It does o er unique dinners, o ered on weekends, at $130-$150 per person with tickets available one and two months in advance.