Dr. Christopher Mayer has led Longbridge’s growth from a startup company in 2013 to the second largest securitizer of newly issued HECM reverse mortgages—since 2018 the company’s market share has increased every quarter. He has guided the construction and funding of new proprietary reverse mortgage products. From 2018-2021, Chris helped manage an 8x increase in the volume of funded loans, propelling the company to the industry’s fastest growing major reverse mortgage lender.
Dr. Mayer has a long background in academia. He served as Senior Vice Dean and Director of the Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia Business School, where he continues to teach today. Dr. Mayer received his PhD in Economics from MIT and has held positions at the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve. Chris has spent his career writing on housing and mortgages, publishing in top academic journals and receiving funding from the National Science Foundation. During the Financial Crisis, he often engaged with policy makers, testifying six times before Senate and House Committees and writing for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. He is often quoted in the press, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and new media such as Vice Media, Yahoo Finance, and HousingWire. A true innovator and industry change maker, Mayer is committed to bringing the value of reverse mortgages to today’s older Americans, with a responsible approach that helps ensure a more secure retirement.
What has been your secret to success?
No one ever accomplishes great things on their own. This award is a testament to what we have accomplished at Longbridge through building a strong and diverse team of people driven to succeed. We are a mission-driven company, focusing every day on responsibly helping our country’s seniors use their home equity to have a better retirement. We all believe in the power of reverse mortgages to positively change lives, but if the product does not make sense for a senior, we will say so. This is what I really believe in – always surround yourself with fantastic people committed to good work and results will come. This is my third start-up company where I have worked as a principal in addition to my academic efforts. The greatest thing about a startup is being able to hire people that fit into the company’s culture and mission.
Name:
Christopher Mayer
Title:
CEO
Company Name:
Longbridge Financial
