What business does Michael Rubin own? CEO of Fanatics, a sports merchandise retailer. According to the profile of Rubin by insider;s John Lynch, the entrepreneur got his start as a teenager running a ski equipment business in Philadelphia. In his 20s, he dropped out of school to launch Global Sports Incorporated, an apparel and logistics company. Rubin later sold that company, later known as GSI Commerce, to eBay in 2011 for $2.4 billion. As part of that deal, he kept Fanatics — the production section of the company. Fanatics provides officially licensed sports merchandise in addition to other services like digital asset collection, and betting, according to the company,s website.