LoanDepot Founder Anthony Hsieh Returns to Executive Team

LoanDepot has announced a leadership transition in which its founder, chairman of the board and controlling shareholder, Anthony Hsieh, will return to the company’s executive team as executive chairman of mortgage originations, while its CEO, Frank Martell, will step down from his current posts and transition to a board advisory role, effective June.

A search for a successor to Martell is underway, and if a permanent CEO has not been appointed by June 4, Hsieh will serve as interim CEO until one is appointed, loanDepot said in a Thursday (March 6) press release.

“We are grateful to Frank for his leadership during this pivotal time and wish him all the best,” Hsieh said in the release. “LoanDepot is a special company with unique potential — and I am all in as we work together to drive a new era of growth an innovation while continuing to delight customers in everything we do.”

Hsieh founded loanDepot in 2010 and is the architect of the company’s proprietary software platform, mello, according to the release.

Martell has been the company’s CEO for three years, per the release.

“During Frank’s tenure, loanDepot successfully implemented the Vision 2025 strategic plan which stabilized the company during a turbulent mortgage market, significantly reduced costs and made important investments for the future,” Pam Patenaude, board member and chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee at loanDepot, said in the release.

Martell said in the release: “With the key priorities of Vision 2025 successfully completed, now is the right time to welcome a new CEO for loanDepot’s next chapter.”

LoanDepot announced its Vision 2025 plan in July 2022, saying it aimed to address the market conditions at that time and in the future by downsizing, focusing mortgage lending on purchase transactions and simplifying its organizational structure.

The company reported in November that it had returned to profitability for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2022. Its earnings announced Nov. 5 showed growth in loan originations as interest rates fell, homebuyers looked to refinance and the housing market entered what management termed a more normalized environment.

LoanDepot will release its latest financial results Tuesday (March 11) and will hold its annual stockholder meeting June 4, according to the Thursday press release.