A 100 billion-dollar milestone, built from the heart

A 100 billion-dollar milestone, built from the heart

By Chairman and CEO Anthony Hsieh

If you had told me back in 2010 when we launched loanDepot, that in seven years we’d hit the $100-billion funding milestone ─ and that we would have a nationwide talent base of 6,000 strong ─ I’d probably have taken a moment for pause.

The optimist in me would have responded, “Sure, why not?” But the realist in me would have been more pragmatic, reminding me that if we keep working hard, chart a course that’s honest and forthright, and attract the best and brightest, then yes, it’s possible. I would have said, “Check back with me in 2017.”

Well, today that $100 billion funding milestone came true. Not a bad achievement for a seven-year-old de novo start-up that’s also grown into the nation’s fifth largest retail mortgage lender and second largest non-bank consumer lender.

It’s heartening to think of the positive impact that $100 billion in loans has had on the lives of those people we’ve funded with honorable loans.

Of course, with success comes potential imitators. I’m proud to say other lending companies are watching what we do and complementing us by try to replicate what we’ve accomplished. But if our formula was so easy to copy, there would be a company like loanDepot on every street corner of every town. But there isn’t.

When I look back, it’s not difficult to figure out what’s made the difference since we served our first customer seven years ago.

The difference is our people. #teamloanDepot has heart. Our company has heart.

People with heart are really the unflappable spirit of our company. #teamloanDepot has a spirit that’s not always easy to describe ─ but they have the ability to make things happen, ethically and with integrity. They have the right attitude and the tenacity to get things done. I’m proud to say that we have a lot of honest, hard-working, great folks in this organization.

Having said that, there is a cautionary tale that comes with success and the promise of longevity. On the occasion of reaching our $100-billion milestone, we need to keep in mind that as we get larger, and our brand as America’s lender evolves into a national household name that consumers gravitate toward for their lending needs, it will become even more important to keep our focus on the borrower. If the loanDepot name is going to stand for something, maintaining our reputation with borrowers is essential.

While disruption of the digital age has officially arrived to lending — and we certainly have invested in it — the only way to make these investments successful is through the type of hard work and forward-thinking that we’ve accomplished over the last seven years.

We should never let go of what got us here. Along with technology and growth comes the necessity to stay energetic and entrepreneurial.

The course we’ve navigated to reach $100-billion in loans funded has been quite a journey. But as we look to the future, the optimist in me still believes that we’ll continue to achieve even greater milestones in the 93 years ahead.