Bonus: The Path with Becky Quick: Dan and Nick Gilbert’s Rare Legacy 5/20/

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**Dan Gilbert** (0:46)
Like most parents who get that diagnosis, we go, neuro what? But when he lost his hearing and his eyesight, he would tell me, dad, I'm Helen Keller 2.0.

**Becky Quick** (0:56)
Is it ever frustrating to think you've got billions of dollars and yet you can't fix everything?

**Dan Gilbert** (1:03)
You can't. That's a sobering thing.

**Becky Quick** (1:11)
I'm Becky Quick. This is another Step on the Path, a podcast series from CNBC Cures about the people, the struggles and the science of rare disease.

**SPEAKER_6** (1:27)
We'll never forget you, buddy.

**Becky Quick** (1:29)
Sometimes the struggle is so severe that all the money in the world can't fix it.

**SPEAKER_7** (1:34)
Your dad called you his own personal hero. How's that make you feel?

**Nick Gilbert** (1:39)
Well, I mean, what's not to like?

**Becky Quick** (1:43)
But when it comes to the heroic patients and families who spend years contending with devastating diagnoses and still continuing to hope, well, what's not to like indeed?
Good morning, and welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNN. I first met my guest today, Dan Gilbert, years ago, probably 20 years ago. He's been a long time friend of CNBC Squawk Box, often sitting in as a guest host to discuss business and housing. Also with us all day today in studio, fresh from the NBA draft, our guest host today, Dan Gilbert, he's the quick and loan chairman, and he's also the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Great to have you here today, Dan.

**SPEAKER_9** (2:25)
Great to be here.

**Becky Quick** (2:26)
Is it a tougher business out there? Do you have to work harder to get those mortgages?

**Dan Gilbert** (2:29)
You know, you definitely have to work hard and you have to market harder. We're a little bit unique in that we're a 50 state retail lender with kind of the internet and being our vehicle of how we get business in.

**SPEAKER_9** (2:39)
Quick and Loans is going to move its offices from Livonia here to downtown Detroit.

**Dan Gilbert** (2:44)
Detroit 2.0, and that's kind of how we're viewing it.

**Becky Quick** (2:49)
Welcome to the city of Detroit.
While he was building a multi-billion dollar company from his hometown of Detroit, he was also a rare disease parent. His late son Nick died in 2023 at the age of 26 after a lifelong battle with neurofibromatosis. It's also called NF. There's an alphabet soup of potential rare conditions, diseases, disorders, illnesses, all of it lurking right in our genes, hidden in the basic code that makes us who we are.
Rare diseases impact tiny populations of the patients who are even lucky enough to get a diagnosis. That's a pretty small total addressable market. But there are more than 10,000 rare diseases and collectively they impact 30 million Americans. That is 10 percent of the population, which means that probably someone near you right now is walking this path.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:47)
Live from the beating heart of business, New York, this is Squawk Box.

**Becky Quick** (3:54)
Dan Gilbert, again, is the founder and chairman of Quick and Loans, which is the number one mortgage lender in the country. Dan, that's amazing because you're a young man and this is a company you started. What happened?

**Dan Gilbert** (4:05)
Well, I don't know how young I am. He's a young man. Yeah, he's a young man. There's 30,000 places you can get a mortgage in this country. Credit unions, brokers, mortgage bankers, commercial banks, Jamie Diamond, wherever you want to go, right?

**Becky Quick** (4:18)
This appearance of Dan Gilbert's aunt Squawk Box was in the spring of 2019 Just six weeks later, he suffered a debilitating stroke when a clot cut off blood flow to his brain.

**SPEAKER_10** (4:29)
You're now for three hours, short hours though, because it's been fun hours.

**Dan Gilbert** (4:33)
You guys are great.

**SPEAKER_10** (4:33)
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

**Becky Quick** (4:36)
In the years since, he's focused on recovery, on his son, and on his life's work, investing in and rebuilding the city of Detroit. I spoke to him there as he was celebrating the opening of Hudson's Detroit. That's a large property development downtown.