Public filings show how the Ishbia family’s stake in United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and its sports assets underpin a network of loans, according to a Bloomberg report.
Bloomberg’s review of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings shows that Justin Ishbia pledged his economic interests in his private equity funds to secure loan facilities with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Additionally, the analysis found that the entity behind Mat Ishbia’s basketball team, the NBA‘s Phoenix Suns, has pledged future distributions to the bank and that Mat Ishbia used tax rebates tied to his UWM stake to help secure a recent $2.05 billion deal with Oaktree Capital Management.
A UWM spokesperson told HousingWire that the loans and collateral pledges do not signal a liquidity problem for Ishbia or the company.
“Trying to use this deal to suggest Mat’s financial situation with UWM or the Phoenix Suns is threatened is clearly ignoring the facts,” the spokesperson said, adding that Ishbia has personally committed “multiple hundreds of millions of dollars” alongside Oaktree. The spokesperson said the JPMorgan arrangements are credit facilities with balances low enough to be repaid at any time and described them as “immaterial.”
The spokesperson also said Ishbia is in the process of buying out the remaining shareholders in the Suns and the WNBA‘s Phoenix Mercury.
Dividends as key source of liquidity
Bloomberg reported on Aug. 14 that after UWM went public via a special purpose acquisition company in 2021, Ishbia’s net worth climbed to about $13 billion, largely tied to UWM stock, before falling by more than half to an estimated $6.2 billion as the share price slid. That equity base has also supported a series of large credit facilities and his purchase of the Suns and Mercury.
For Ishbia’s family, UWM’s dividend has been a central source of liquidity. SFS Corp., the holding company through which the family owns most of its UWM shares, received nearly $6.3 billion in distributions between 2020 and 2025, mostly from the quarterly dividend, according to filings cited by Bloomberg.
UWM used the equivalent of more than 96% of its net income to fund these payouts. That left the lender with little cushion and contributed to declining total equity even as it reported profits, the report said.
Alongside with a new capital investment from Oaktree, these common dividends will stop. Oaktree is purchasing $1.5 billion of newly issued preferred shares with a 10% coupon, while Ishbia is adding $150 million. Much of the cash that previously went to common shareholders will now service those preferred obligations. Oaktree and Ishbia are also backstopping a $400 million common-stock offering expected later this year.
The financing follows roughly $600 million in losses on an interest rate hedge tied to UWM’s failed effort to buy mortgage servicer Two Harbors Investment Corp.
Leverage reached $2.3 billion
According to the Bloomberg report, after UWM’s public listing, Mat Ishbia pledged most of his family’s equity in the company as collateral for up to $1.8 billion in loans from JPMorgan, using those to buy a controlling stake in the Suns and Mercury. In 2025, the facility was increased with a fifth loan, bringing the total principal to about $2.3 billion, according to a UCC filing in Michigan.
Around the same time, his brother, Justin — who runs Chicago-based private equity firm Shore Capital Partners, with about $17 billion under management — also posted additional collateral to support the loans. Bloomberg estimates Justin’s net worth at $4.8 billion.
Additional filings show the entity behind the Suns has pledged future dividends and distributions — as well as any potential proceeds from a bankruptcy or insolvency — as collateral to secure a JPMorgan loan, via a Delaware UCC filing. The Suns, which were profitable before the sale, lost money in Mat Ishbia’s first season as controlling owner, according to court documents cited by Bloomberg.
Mat Ishbia also pledged rights to payments he receives through a tax receivable agreement (TRA) with UWM. As of June 30, UWM reported a $280 million TRA liability on its balance sheet. Bloomberg reports Ishbia used rebates tied to that agreement as part of the collateral structure supporting the Oaktree deal.
A JPMorgan spokesperson said the bank did not request additional collateral from Ishbia after UWM’s latest stock selloff.
