In August 2010, Rowling made the winning bid to acquire the bankrupt Amelia Island Plantation Resort for $67.1 million.
[5] Rowling served as a regent to the University of Texas System until February 2009 when he resigned over a controversy regarding bonuses paid to the UTIMCO investment staff.
Unwilling to break the contracts and disgusted by their grandstanding, Rowling quit during a Texas Senate Finance Committee meeting and followed it up a day later with a formal letter of resignation [6] As of July 2024, he is worth US$9.5 billion.
[9][10][11] According to an article published in Forbes, four San Francisco Gold's Gym franchises split off from the brand after Rowling made a $2 million donation to Karl Rove's American Crossroads PAC, sparking protest from gay rights advocates.
"[14] In April 2020, Governor Greg Abbott named Rowling to the Strike Force to Open Texas – a group "tasked with finding safe and effective ways to slowly reopen the state" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.