- Robert Sarver
Robert Sarver (born 1961 in
Tucson, Arizona ) is the current majority owner of thePhoenix Suns . He bought the NBA franchise fromJerry Colangelo in the spring of 2004.His father was Jack Sarver, a prominent Tucson businessman, banker and hotel developer (the elder Sarver built the Aztec Inn, the Plaza International Hotel (now a
Four Points by Sheraton ) at Speedway and Campbell in Tucson in the early 1970's [ [http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/biz-topheadlines/237586 Arizona Daily Star article on the former Plaza International Hotel, built by Robert Sarver's father] ] , built and operated the Tucson areaHoward Johnson's locations and headed a localsavings and loan ). Jack Sarver died of a heart attack in 1979; Robert Sarver would eventually donate to his alma mater, theUniversity of Arizona , funds to its heart research center, which in 1998 was renamed theSarver Heart Center in honor of his father. [ [http://www.heart.arizona.edu/aboutCenter/the-sarvers.htm Sarver Heart Center bio on Robert Sarver] ]After graduating from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1982, Robert Sarver founded the
National Bank of Arizona (then the National Bank of Tucson) at age 23 in 1984. He sold it toZions Bancorporation in 1994. Prior to the sale, National Bank of Arizona had become the largest independent bank in the state. In 1995 he acquired Grossmont Bank, one of San Diego's largest community banks.A lifelong sports fan, Sarver’s quest to purchase an NBA team began with a conversation with University of Arizona basketball coach
Lute Olson . Olson referred Sarver toSteve Kerr , a former player at Arizona and a 15-year NBA veteran, to assist him in buying an NBA franchise.Sarver sits on the Board of Trustees of the Sarver Heart Center, which he helped build in memory of his late father, who was among the first in an experimental group to undergo bypass surgery. The center now houses over 40 physicians and researchers dedicated to fighting
heart disease .Sarver has a 27 handicap in golf, plays tennis and volleyball, and enjoys going to California in his spare time. During his first date with his eventual wife, Penny Sanders, he invited her to watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament in his casita.
He and his wife, a
Kansas City, Missouri native, have three boys: Max, Jake and Zach.Sarver is a 1979 graduate of
Sabino High School inTucson . Sarver currently lives inParadise Valley, Arizona .References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
