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Success has followed Arizona native Robert G. Sarver in every stage of his career and his golden touch has extended to his first three seasons with the Phoenix Suns. The self-made entrepreneur embarked on another challenge as the new majority owner of the Phoenix Suns in 2004-05, and the Suns enjoyed unparalleled success as the club tied a franchise record with an NBA-best 62 wins and posted the third-greatest turnaround in league history (33-game improvement). In 2005-06, the franchise advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. In 2006-07, the Suns won its third-straight Pacific Division title and finished with the NBA’s second best record (61-21). Since taking ownership of the Suns, Phoenix has a cumulative regular season record of 177-69 (.720), trailing only the Dallas Mavericks (185-61, .752) and the San Antonio Spurs (180-66, .732) over the same span (2004-07). He currently serves on the NBA’s Board of Governors and is also the majority owner of the Phoenix Mercury, who won their first WNBA Championship in 2007. Sarver, 45, who became the youngest person ever to found a national bank at the age of 23, grew up a Suns fan and attended games as a youth at Veterans Memorial Coliseum after receiving tickets as birthday gifts from Donald Diamond, one of the original owners along with Richard Bloch and Donald Pitt. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Western Alliance Bancorporation, a $4 billion bankholding company doing business in Arizona, California and Nevada. He is also the co-founder and executive director of Southwest Value Partners (SVP), a real estate and investment company, since 1990. A 1979 graduate of Sabino High School in Tucson, Sarver spent the first 35 years of his life in Arizona and recently moved back after living in San Diego. Sarver has demonstrated a commitment to community and philanthropic contributions, and has helped raise over $3 million for Phoenix Suns Charities since taking ownership of the club in 2004. Sarver and his wife Penny are instrumental in helping to build the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008. Sarver sits on the Board of Trustees of the Sarver Heart Center at the University of Arizona, which he helped build in memory of his late father, Jack, who was among the first in an experimental group to undergo heart bypass surgery. The center now houses over 40 physicians and researchers dedicated to fighting heart disease. He is also on the board of the Weil Foundation, which supports integrative medicine. Introduced to the banking industry at 16, he worked part time at the end of his school day as a mortgage loan agent and internal auditor at American Savings for his late father, a well-known banker and hotel owner. A 1982 graduate of the University of Arizona, Sarver earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration, and became a certified public accountant in 1983. After founding the National Bank of Arizona in 1984, Sarver served as president until its sale to the Zions Bancorporation in 1994. Prior to the sale, National Bank of Arizona had become the largest independent bank in the state. In 1995, Sarver led a group of investors in acquiring Grossmont Bank, San Diego’s largest community bank. He was the Chairman and CEO of the holding company and led its merger with Sumitomo Bank of California, renaming it California Bank and Trust. In 2002, he sold his interest in California Bank and Trust. He currently serves as director of SkyWest Airlines and Phoenix-based Meritage Corporation, and is on the board of directors for the Downtown Phoenix Partnership Inc., a non-profit organization funded by an assessment on property owners within the 90-square block core of Copper Square. A lifelong sports fan, Sarver’s quest to purchase an NBA team began with a conversation with University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson, a friend of Sarver’s since 1980. Olson referred Sarver to Steve Kerr, a former player at Arizona and current President of Basketball Operations/General Manager, to assist him in buying an NBA franchise. Sarver eventually named Kerr the club’s President of Basketball Operations and General Manager in June 2007. During his first date with his eventual wife, Penny Sanders, he invited her to watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament at his house. He and his wife, a Kansas City, Mo. native, have three boys: Max, Jake and Zach. | 