who had put in 20 years at the school, including several
as its highly successful baseball coach, before becoming
president in 2000. “The institution was always in dire
straits.”
The vital signs were much worse than anyone on
campus knew, with the exception of Stafford and a
few administrators and deans. The school was losing
$16 million a year while taking in only $4 million in
revenues. Its endowment was a paltry $4 million, and
potential donors had disappeared over the collapse of
the fraudulent Baptist Foundation of Arizona in 1999.
The bleak situation had caught the attention of federal
regulators, who were concerned about Grand Canyon’s
ability to meet its financial obligations.
“We had no idea things were that bad,” says Keith Baker, then GCU’s
associate director of athletics. “We were told that some consultants were
coming on campus. They were basically
looking under the hood of the car and getting
ready to buy it.
“Most of us didn’t know what that meant.
How do you buy a university?”
December 2003: The art of a deal
Brent Richardson, the entrepreneurial son
of a K-12 school superintendent, had an idea
of how it might be done. Richardson and his
brother, Chris, were part of a small group of
investors, Significant Education LLC, that
spent the tail end of 2003 sizing up GCU.
Richardson, then 41, took a shine to
Grand Canyon, seeing possibilities where others (including his innovator
father) saw only problems. He already had been successful at marrying
2004
In January, trustees authorize
sale of GCU to Significant
Education LLC. Brent
Richardson becomes CEO and
University begins transition
to for-profit institution. Ken
Blanchard College of Business
introduced. Enrollment on
campus approximately 1,500.
2005
U.S. Department of Education
requires letter of credit
from GCU. Endeavour
Capital invests $18 million
in growth funds.
2006-07
Makeover includes
Promenade, swimming
pool and Kaibab
Enrollment Center.
2008
In July, Brian Mueller (CEO),
Dr. Stan Meyer (COO) and
Dan Bachus (CFO) join
GCU from Apollo Group. In
November, $230 million initial
public offering launches
new era of growth.
2009
After leasing campus land
for five years, GCU buys
it back for $50 million.
Turnaround Timeline
“When you’re an
entrepreneur,
you go by your
gut on a lot of
things, and you
build around that.”
—Brent Richardson,
former University CEO
Brent Richardson was part
of a group of investors that
acquired GCU in 2004, and he
became the University’s chief
executive officer that year.
photo by darryl webb
8 • GCU TODAY
