Thomas Dundon

Thomas Dundon (born September 5, 1971) is an American businessman, specializing in financial services, real estate and sports entertainment. He is chairman and managing partner of Dundon Capital Partners in Dallas, Texas, chairman of pickleball.com, and is the sole owner and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League and was on the board of the former Alliance of American Football. Early life and career Dundon was born in New York and raised in Texas. He attended Southern Methodist University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1993 and served as president of Phi Gamma Delta. He soon after operated a restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas. Later, with a number of partners, he co-founded a business focused primarily on subprime automobile financing called Drive Financial Services, LP, which eventually became Santander Consumer USA, a large U.S. consumer finance company majority held by Banco Santander. By the time he left in 2015, Dundon served as chairman and chief executive officer of the company. After leaving Santander, Dundon started his own firm, Dundon Capital Partners, and bought a 33-story building in downtown Dallas. Dundon's investments via the firm include Employer Direct Healthcare, a healthcare services company, Exeter Finance, an auto finance company, and Pacific Elm Properties, a Dallas-based real estate company. Also after leaving Santander, Dundon cofounded Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas. Sports investments Carolina Hurricanes In late 2017, Dundon became involved in purchasing the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League from owner Peter Karmanos Jr. who had owned the team since it was the Hartford Whalers. Dundon became majority owner of the team on January 11, 2018, in a transaction where he purchased 52% of the team and the operating rights to PNC Arena for $420 million.