Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
The unveiling last fall of Hudson’s Detroit, a new 1.5 million–square–foot development in Detroit, came just months after Jared Fleisher was named president of Bedrock, the real estate developer that backed the project. But the project is a capstone to more than a decade of work by Bedrock, founded and chaired by billionaire Dan Gilbert, to revitalize Detroit and turn the city into an appealing home for newcomers and natives alike.
“We look at the city as a product,” says Fleisher, who advised Gilbert on government affairs and economic development strategy before becoming president of Bedrock in August 2025 and CEO in December. “We’ve got to produce something that your customer wants, and our customers [are] talented young people who are the fuel of a modern economy. We want that customer to choose our city.”
A vision for Detroit
Hudson’s Detroit, which will include 400,000 square feet of office space, retail, an event venue with a rooftop lounge, and eventually a hotel and residences, seems tailored to an upwardly mobile, young clientele.
Gilbert, whose Rock conglomerate includes Rocket Mortgage, Bedrock, and the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, also wants to retain Detroiters. “Our customer definitely is what Jared said: the young, talented folks who drive the modern economy but also people who live in the city [already],” says Gilbert, who moved Rocket from the Detroit suburbs to the city in 2010. “We want them to stay here. We don’t want to lose population anymore.”
Indeed, after years of decline, the city saw its population grow in 2025 to about 650,000, well below its peak of more than 1.8 million in 1950 but a symbolic improvement from 2020, when the city had about 630,000 residents.
Gilbert has had a heavy hand in Detroit’s reversal of fortune. Bedrock, founded in 2011, has invested or committed some $7.5 billion to develop and restore more than 140 properties, primarily in Detroit and Cleveland. His Detroit Venture Partners has invested more than $500 million in startups, most of them in Detroit. And in 2021, the Gilbert Family Foundation and the Rocket Community Fund launched a $500 million 10-year commitment to Detroit neighborhoods with investments focused on housing, employment, and public life.
Other billionaires have used their wealth and influence to remake communities. Fast Company recently profiled Walmart heir Alice Walton’s efforts to transform Bentonville, Arkansas, into an arts destination.
Fleisher says delegations from Minneapolis, Dallas, and other cities have recently visited Detroit to study its turnaround. And many ask Fleisher how they can transform their cities without a singular benefactor such as Gilbert. “I think they’re asking the wrong question,” Fleisher says. “There’s a lot of wealth in Dallas. There are a lot of successful people in Minneapolis. The real question is: How do you get your major corporate leaders to be like Dan Gilbert?”
And while Gilbert has provided significant financial support over the years, Fleisher says the entrepreneur offers an even more important contribution: “When you have clarity on values and clarity on vision, it’s easy to execute. That’s what Dan brings,” he says. “Our vision at the highest level is to make Detroit the greatest city on earth.”
Modern CEO at Cannes Lions
Modern CEO will be attending Cannes Lions this week. I’m cohosting a roundtable discussion on brands and AI adoption with Sheila Mulligan, president, Central Region, of Weber Shandwick. I’m also leaving time to look at the award-winning work, and for serendipity! Email me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com if you plan to be there—I’m collecting anecdotes on why CEOs attend Cannes Lions and what they gain from the experience.
READ MORE: spotlight on Detroit
- How Bedrock is revitalizing rust belt cities, one stylish renovation at a time
- Why Ford spent $1 billion to transform an abandoned train station
- This former Detroit post office became a lab for the future of transportation