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Which side of this five year-old post is loanDepot Founder Anthony Hsieh inheriting as he returns as Executive Chairman of Mortgage Originations? In case you missed it: https://lnkd.in/eEKY7srH According to Scotsman Guide, the last 5 years have looked like this for LD: 2020 #3 @ $46B 2021 #2 @100.7B 2022 #3 @ $137B 2023 #4 @ $53.7B 2024 #8 @ $22.B “𝐼’𝑚 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑝 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠 – 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑛𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 – 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.” 𝐵𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑞𝑢𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 – 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒.” 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝐻𝑠𝑖𝑒ℎ, who is the majority shareholder. When LD went public 2/11/21, after 11 years in business, he posted on LinkedIn: "𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 11 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴." He will need to hit the turbo button now for those words to have prophetic meaning. If anyone can do that, he can. Before starting loanDepot, he founded HomeLoanCenter.com in 2002--which merged with online marketplace LendingTree in 2004. 1989, he acquired a mortgage brokerage he renamed LoansDirect.com; he sold it to E-Trade in 2001. I asked a prominent IMB CEO what he thought of Anthony's return to the front lines: "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦," he said. With a proxy fight, a cyber attack in 24' that cost the company $27M, and a massive lawsuit thrown out last month (https://lnkd.in/eTTYgKd6) behind them, the stage seems set for a rennessaince of sorts. Hsieh also was a pioneer on LinkedIn--one of the first leaders to step out consistently on this platform. His voice has been missed. He returns at a time when our industry is desperate for leadership from the CEO level. Since David Stevens passing, there's been a tremendous void. With affordability woes, rising credit costs and agency removal from conservatorship on the table, he's an advocate we could use in the fight. I'm hoping when he gets settled back in, we'll be seeing more of him. The biggest lift to the industry with his return is likely to be where he takes their already leading technology--lenders talk to lenders. I, for one, will be tracking their advancements. Welcome back Anthony Hsieh.
Greg, I agree 100% with you on the leadership and presence that Anthony Hsieh brought to the industry.. always motivated to be the best. To your point, I remembered a post he made about 2yrs ago (had to go and find it).. insight, foresight, and experience: “The mortgage industry volume is collapsing caused by higher interest rates, pivoting towards non agency or home equity financing with greater regulations by Dodd-Frank act is proving to be difficult for the industry. This violent change will shake all of us. There will be casualties, some companies will be victorious during this change, but most will shrink with many not making it to the other side. I ask that we do our best to preserve our industry honor, dignity, and remember the importance of our services to this country and our society…” “As industry professionals, please preserve the positive momentum of our industry image to society by not throwing rocks at each other. The market is tough enough, let’s not make it tougher. Ok rant over. Let’s all focus on getting to the other side. Where there are challenges and change, there is opportunity. This is the mortgage business!” AS Some love him, some don’t.. @tyler wilde, thoughts?
If there was a bet for it on Draft Kings, I would bet on Anthony. Long track record of success.
Love this insight Greg - I’m betting on Anthony’s success
Love your approach with this post and your ability to bring value to the industry
I’m excited to see Anthony back and whether it’s here on LinkedIn or leading LD or contributing to industry- his voice, expertise & energy is welcome and needed. Very appreciative of all his support & impact on my career & journey.
Ship sailed.
Anthony is a passionate, entrepreneurial, visionary who will bring those attributes to the top of the house to lead loanDepot back to its roots.
Great quote In 2022, about retaining high potentials as the conventional world melted down. Curious sentiment though as I was one of the most successful processors in the company and was laid off whilst performing in the 90th percentile on the day my tenure ended...a nameless hr drone just regurgitated a canned line that had no justification about how I, who had hit my numbers and all metrics forever was being let go....I struggled with this for weeks until I realized that my success was my demise...they could keep 3 or 4 processors performing at a fraction of my level to cover my production and save payroll...give the customer a worse experience and turn time, but if you protect your tanked $1.25 stock price it's worthwhile.😆
I followed Anthony Hsieh when he was uniquely vocal when others at his level were not, but I always felt his LinkedIn content would be far too transparent when loanDepot went public. Why? Because some Wall Street analysts are known to hit harder and lower than others. Anyway, although thier story of survival these past 3 years in not unlike their peers, our industry is often about endurance. So, say what you want, but loanDepot is still in the game and so is its founder.
VP/Mortgage Banking & Ancillary Services @ T3 Sixty | Industry Writer, Podcaster & Advocate | Strategic Growth Architect | Expert, Talent Optimization, Brand Awareness, & Go-To-Market Strategies
1moLove that this happened so soon after Shant Banosian takes over Rate. We get to see two heavyweights enter the fray from different angles, perhaps on a market share collision course. Love that our industry is finally - after 2.5 years - saying “no mas” to a struggling market. Time to double down and make things happen.