Lewis S. Ranieri is the prime originator and founder of the Hyperion
private equity funds (“Hyperion”) and is a principal partner and founder
of Selene Residential Mortgage Opportunity Fund (“Selene”). Mr. Ranieri
serves as chairman and/or director of various operating and/or
non-operating entities affiliated with Hyperion and Selene. Mr. Ranieri
also serves as Chairman and President of Ranieri & Co., Inc., a private
investment advisor and management corporation, and he is founder
and Chairman of Ranieri Partners LLC and Ranieri Partners Management LLC,
investment management companies focused on financial service
opportunities. He is also Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer
of Franklin Bank Corp. and Root Markets, Inc., an internet-based
mortgage leads company.
Prior to forming Hyperion in 1988, Mr. Ranieri had been Vice Chairman of Salomon Brothers, Inc. (“Salomon”).
He is generally considered to be the “father” of the securitized
mortgage market. Mr. Ranieri helped develop the capital markets as a
source of funds for housing and commercial real estate, established
Salomon’s leadership position in the mortgage-backed securities area,
and also led the effort to obtain federal legislation to support and
build the market. At Salomon, Mr. Ranieri had responsibility for the
firm’s activities in the mortgage, real estate and government-guaranteed
areas.
Regarded as an expert and innovator in
both the mortgage and capital markets, Mr. Ranieri has served on the
National Association of Home Builders Mortgage Roundtable continuously
since 1989. In recognition of his dedication and lifelong achievements
in the housing industry, Mr. Ranieri was inducted into the National
Housing Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the lifetime
achievement award given by the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc. and
was subsequently inducted into the FIASI Hall of Fame for outstanding
practitioners in the advancement of the analysis of fixed-income
securities and portfolios. In November 2004, BusinessWeek
magazine named him one of “the greatest innovators of the past 75
years,” and in 2005, he received the Distinguished Industry Service
Award from the American Securitization Forum.
Mr. Ranieri serves as a trustee or
director of Environmental Defense and The Metropolitan Opera Association
and is also on the Board of the American Ballet Theatre.
