Karen Gail Miller (; born October 14, 1943) is an American businesswoman who is the head of the Larry H. Miller Company. She assumed the role upon the death of her husband Larry H. Miller in 2009. From 2009 until 2020, Miller was the owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). She acquired Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2025. Miller engages in philanthropy through her family foundation.
Family and personal life Miller was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 14, 1943. Her father was a shoemaker, and her mother a housekeeper. Her family was impoverished and at one time had only one lightbulb, which they moved from room-to-room.
Miller is descended from pioneers who were among the first whites to settle in Utah. One of Miller's great-great-grandfathers was Johan Otte. Otte was born in Prussia in 1843. He met his wife, Ane Sorensdatter, in Denmark. Ane died giving birth to Ane Maria. Ane Maria was taken in by close friends of the couple due to Otte's grief. These friends had recently joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and took Ane Maria with them to Utah. Otte went on to have seven more children with a later wife. One of those children was Hans Frederick Otte, Miller's grandfather. Johan Otte converted to the LDS Church in Denmark and moved to Utah in 1898. He died later that year, but only after being first re-united with his daughter and the friends who had taken her in as their own.
She married Larry H. Miller on March 25, 1965, and they are parents of five children. Larry died of diabetes complications on February 20, 2009. Miller married her second husband, Salt Lake City attorney Kim Wilson, in June 2013.
Business After her husband died in 2009, Miller assumed control of their businesses, which then consisted of 54 car dealerships, a movie theater chain, and the Utah Jazz. One of Miller's first moves after taking over was to create a board of directors, a move that was initially resisted by other stakeholders. Miller says she suffered from imposter syndrome when she first started work. She went on to direct the sale of the auto business and the Utah Jazz along with the expansion into real estate and healthcare. From 2009 to 2025, the company doubled both its headcount and revenue.
As of 2022, many of these assets have been sold and the company has expanded into new businesses, such as real estate and healthcare.
As of 2023, LHMCO's board was chaired by Steve Miller, the Millers' third son.
Sports and entertainment In May 2024, the Larry H. Miller Company rebranded its sports and entertainment businesses including the Salt Lake Bees and their ballpark in Daybreak, Big League Utah, Larry H. Miller Megaplex Theatres, and Larry H. Miller Megaplex Entertainment as Miller Sports + Entertainment.
Utah Jazz
The Miller family started construction on the Delta Center, which would later become the Vivint Arena, in 1990. It was completed in 1991. The arena has been an economic boon for downtown Salt Lake City. It attracted large amounts of foot traffic and many businesses have been established nearby.
Gail Miller assumed ownership upon her husband's death. In 2017, she transferred ownership of the Jazz and Vivint Arena into a trust to keep the franchise in Utah for generations. The Millers are often credited with saving the team and keeping it in Utah when the franchise was experiencing financial problems in the 1980s.
In 2017, the Miller family spent $125 million renovating the Vivint Arena. In 2019, a fan verbally abused NBA player Russell Westbrook. Miller later addressed the home crowd to speak out against the boorish behavior and proclaimed, "This should never happen. We are not a racist community." In 2020, Jazz player Rudy Gobert donated $200,000 to team employees who were furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller announced that the LHM Group would "more than match" this number.
In October 2020, the Miller family agreed to sell the Jazz and Vivint Arena to Ryan Smith, founder of Qualtrics, for $1.66 billion. This price is about 70 times what the Miller family originally paid. Smith had a long-standing interest in the team. He even sponsored a jersey patch that raised $25 million for charity. Smith made proposals to the Miller family on several occasions before finally reaching acceptable terms. Terms of the deal require the team to remain in Utah and the Miller family will retain a minority interest. The Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League and management of the Salt Lake Bees minor league baseball team were also part of the deal. The Miller family said they planned to use the profits from this sale to diversify their businesses and engage in more extensive philanthropy. The Millers rejected previous offers to buy the Jazz.
In 2022, the Miller family announced that it was selling a portion of its remaining interest in the Utah Jazz. The transaction placed a value of $2.25 billion on the Jazz. The transaction was the result of an agreement made when the Millers sold their majority interest in the team.
Big League Utah
In early 2023, Miller, her family, and the LHM Company started an effort to bring a Major League Baseball (MLB) team to Salt Lake City. This has been called the "Big League Utah" campaign. A "shovel ready" site in the Rocky Mountain Power District in west Salt Lake City has been identified to build a stadium. This site was selected because of its position between the airport and downtown.
Miller's late husband, who died in 2009, spent a whole chapter of his autobiography on his love of ballparks, baseball, and softball. Miller described her efforts to bring MLB to Utah as extremely important to her and to her family.
In early 2023, the LHMCO purchased billboards reading "Utah wants the A's" around Salt Lake City while representatives of the team were visiting to meet with the company. LHMCO made an effort to get the A's to temporarily relocate to Utah while waiting for the completion of its new stadium in Las Vegas.
In 2023, the Larry H. Miller Company's real estate subsidiary purchased a 12-acre site near the proposed stadium. It was previously owned by ABF Freight, a shipping and logistics company. LHMCO expressed interest in buying the former Ramada Inn near the proposed baseball stadium. If LHMCO were to close on this property it would then have control of 18 acres of land near the stadium. These sites are part of the small amount of privately controlled land in the area not owned by Rocky Mountain Power.
In late 2023, Big League Utah announced the formation of honorary and community advisory boards. The honorary board includes Gail Miller, Gov. Spencer Cox, and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. Zions Bank President Scott Anderson, Vivint Smart Home founder Todd Pedersen, and Salt Lake Chamber CEO Derek Miller sit on the community advisory board. In the same announcement, Big League Utah said that it would form a foundation to address the needs of the people and businesses that occupy the area near the proposed stadium.
In February 2024, the Larry H. Miller Company announced plans to invest $3.5 billion to develop the Power District. The firm released renderings of the proposed development. The plans include a stadium intended for Major League Baseball. LHMCO worked closely with the Utah State Fairpark board, Salt Lake City, the Jordan River Commission, and other policymakers to ensure compliance with land use planning.
In early 2024, Utah state legislature passed HB 562. This bill pledges $900 million for the proposed Major League Baseball stadium. The Larry H. Miller Company would be obligated to invest another $900 million.
In early 2026, the Larry H. Miller Company announced plans to improve a section of the Jordan River that runs through the Power District. The plan calls for reintroducing native vegetation and aquatic animals, improving water quality, and adding a riverwalk. Field Operations, a landscape architecture firm, was hired for the project. The firm has worked on similar projects such as New York City's High Line, Seattle's Waterfront, and San Francisco's Presidio Tunnel Tops.
Salt Lake Bees
This franchise dates from 1994, when Joe Buzas, a former major league player and the owner of the PCL Portland Beavers, moved the team to Salt Lake City. Buzas made a deal wherein the city would build a new ballpark on the site of historic Derks Field in exchange for relocating the team. The new ballpark, Franklin Quest Field, opened in 1994 with the renamed Salt Lake Buzz drawing 713,224 fans to home games during their inaugural season—breaking the PCL single-season attendance record that had stood for 48 years. Buzas owned the team until his death in 2003. The team was purchased by Larry H. Miller, who also owned the NBA's Utah Jazz. Known as the Salt Lake Buzz from 1994 to 2000, the team changed its name to the Salt Lake Stingers in 2001. The change was forced by a trademark dilution lawsuit filed by Georgia Tech, whose yellowjacket mascot is named Buzz.
Professional soccer In April 2025, she acquired a controlling interest in Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS), the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), and America First Field from David Blitzer and Ryan Smith for $600 million.
Megaplex Theatres
Megaplex Theatres is a cinema chain based in Sandy, Utah. It was founded in 1999 and is owned by The Larry H. Miller Company. As of 2024, Megaplex Theatres operated 17 locations. The first location anchored the newly built Jordan Commons restaurant and entertainment complex in Sandy when it opened on November 1, 1999, with 20 screens. The theater was built on the former site of Jordan High School. Since its opening, the Sandy location has grown to be one of the highest-grossing theaters locally while also ranking among the top theaters nationwide on some films.
Health care The LHM Company expanded its healthcare business into skilled nursing, assisted living, home health, and hospice care and has formed LHM Senior Health.
In January 2021, the LHM Group announced its purchase of Advanced Health Care (AHC), a chain of high-end nursing homes and hospices that also provides in-home health care. AHC patients are generally transitioning from in-hospital acute care to living at home. The purchase price was undisclosed. The LHM Group said the acquisition was part of a broader effort to diversify their portfolio of businesses. AHC was founded in Idaho in 2001 and runs 22 facilities, including six in Utah. The other facilities are in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, and New Mexico. The deal was finalized after two years of negotiations. This was LHM Group's first acquisition in health care. The Larry H. Miller Company took over tasks such as accounting, real-estate management, and future redevelopment so that AHC can focus on its core competencies. AHC was founded by Lehi-native Brett Nattress, a general authority for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2023, AHC announced acquisitions in both Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The facility formerly known as the Harmony Hills Assisted Living Center in Lehi, Utah was purchased by AHC in 2022. As of early 2023, the facility was undergoing renovations and re-opened in May 2023. The renovation includes a large salt-water fish tank, a new gym, a new hair salon, and a new library. The facility was renamed the Aspen Ridge Residences. It will be AHC's first assisted living center. Studio and one-bedroom apartments will be on offer. The Aspen Ridge Residences were open as of 21 June 2023.
In early 2025, the Miller family foundation partnered with Proxima to help people facing barriers to entering healthcare careers receive proper training.
Real estate