Penske: Motor City's Third Wheel

When discussing the resurgence of Detroit, two names quickly come to forefront: Dan Gilbert and Mike Ilitch. Both entrepreneurs have built very successful companies (Quicken Loans and Little Caesar's Pizza, respectively). Both have purchased professional sports and parlayed their success in business to their sports franchises (Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, respectively).

More importantly, both gentleman have made a concerted effort to revive the city of Detroit. By investing their company's money as well as their own private funds, they have been instrumental in the Motor City comeback and will continue to be a driving force for years to come.

There has been another key contributor to Detroit's comeback: Roger Penske. The owner and founder of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: PAG) is also the chairman of the Downtown Detroit Partnership that brought several high profile events to Detroit, including the Detroit Grand Prix last weekend.

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Third Wheel

From race car driver to businessman, Penske announced in 1965 his retirement as a driver in order to devote and dedicate all of his time to the business component of racing. Penske's journey began in Pennsylvania when he made his first purchase: a Chevrolet dealership. Penske had been the dealership general manager since 1963. As Penske planted the seed of growth in his first purchase, the opportunities for him continued to expand. Penske was in the works to create a foundation for what would be the future for his business empire that now is one of the most well known companies in the world.

As a businessman, Penske owned the private company Penske Corporation, which consisted of four business groups: Penske Performance, Penske Automotive, Penske Capital Partners, and Penske Transportation. Through its subsidiaries, Penske Corporation managed and operated businesses with annual revenues of more than $11 billion and employed 35,000 people at over three thousand worldwide locations.

Penske Automotive shares were trading higher by $0.17 at $38.49 in Monday's session. The issue saw a slight boost as one his driver's was victorious in the Sunday's second leg of the Detroit Grand Prix

It has lagged the market in 2016, trading lower by nearly 10 percent compared with the broad markets nearly 4 percent gain.

Image credit: Walter, Flickr