Suns owner Mat Ishbia's company calls Bloomberg report 'false and misleading'
New Phoenix Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia’s mortgage lender company issued a statement to The Republic in reaction to a recent Bloomberg article that reports examples of a toxic environment at United Wholesale Mortgage.
“Bloomberg’s portrayal of the culture at UWM is false and misleading. UWM has been completely transparent with Bloomberg, giving them hours of on-the-record interviews with UWM team members and executives, detailed answers to dozens of questions, and a personal tour of our 1M+ square-foot campus,'' the statement said.
"We are disappointed that, in the face of the overwhelming and detailed evidence of the real culture at UWM, Bloomberg chose to paint a sensationalized caricature of our company's workplace environment. UWM has operated for almost forty years and has employed close to 20,000 team members and we are proud of our people, our accomplishments, and our culture. Our record speaks for itself.”
Ishbia declined to comment after The Republic requested a statement through his representatives.
The 43-year-old billionaire attended Phoenix’s final regular season game. The Suns host Game 1 in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs this Sunday against the Clippers.
Bloomberg reported current and former employees complained about “racial disparities, sexual harassment” and managers bullying employees.
More than two dozen employees spoke to Bloomberg on the matter with several of them saying Black employees were treated differently than White ones while others often heard “leering and sexually offensive remarks” made by sales staff, the report said.
Former employees also said some sales staff, executives and managers repeatedly used cocaine. The company is based out of Pontiac, Mich., as Ishbia is from Birmingham, Mich., a Detroit suburb.
There were no specific accusations aimed at Ishbia in the Bloomberg report.
The story comes less than two years after the ESPN report in November 2021 that detailed Robert Sarver creating a toxic environment with the Suns during his tenure as team owner.
Sarver bought the team from Jerry Colangelo for $401 million in 2004.
That report led to the NBA investigating Sarver and discovering there were “workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies” within the organization under his watch.
Sarver received a yearlong league suspension starting in September 2022 and was fined $10 million. He later sold the Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury to Ishbia for a record $4 billion.
Ishbia received final transaction approval from the NBA on Feb. 7, 2023.
The NBA concluded Sarver used the N-word multiple times and made inappropriate comments toward females. ESPN then reported in December 2022 that the team’s CEO at the time, Jason Rowley, contributed to the toxic work environment.
Rowley had a “profane-laced tirade” aimed at a female employee in 2013, ESPN reported. Pregnant at the time, the employee struggled to get her maternity leave and was fired when returning from her leave.
Rowley has since resigned and Ishbia hired Josh Bartelstein to work as CEO of the Suns, Mercury and operations at Footprint Center. Bartelstein spent eight years working for the Detroit Pistons.
“Josh understands our culture and values and shares our strategic vision for the Suns and Mercury,” said Ishbia in a statement on Monday. “His proven leadership abilities and deep experience in both the business and basketball sides of an organization makes him uniquely positioned to transform the teams into the best basketball franchises on and off the court.”
Several of Ishbia’s employees at UWM raved about Ishbia’s leadership and work ethic leading up to him becoming the Suns' team owner.
“He makes everyone feel special, and that is something that is really unique about him,” said Sarah DeCiantis, chief marketing officer for UWM. “He does little things all day, every day to recognize people to make sure that everyone knows they’re appreciated and to make sure they know how much he appreciates them. It’s those little things that make the culture at UWM unique.”
UWM executive vice president of sales, Allen Beydoun, talked about the training employers receive at Ishbia’s company.
You just don’t become a leader at United Wholesale Mortgage,” he said. “You go through wholesale training, diversity and inclusion. We’ve done all that at United Wholesale Mortgage, which in my opinion, is probably the best culture any company can house under one roof.”
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns owner Mat Ishbia's mortgage company refutes report of toxic environment
