LoanDepot CEO Frank Martell is stepping down from his role at the mortgage lender while the company’s founder and controlling shareholder, Anthony Hsieh, is returning to the executive leadership team, the company announced on Thursday.
Martell will be transitioning to a board advisory role as of an annual stockholder meeting to be held on June 4, and a search will take place for his replacement during the intervening period. If a new CEO has not been named between now and then, Hsieh will serve as interim CEO. Meanwhile, Hsieh has rejoined the team to serve as executive chairman of Mortgage Operations.
Pamela Hughes Patenaude
“We are deeply grateful for Frank’s steadfast leadership over the past three years and during this transition,” loanDepot Board member and chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Pam Patenaude said in a statement.
“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. We are very fortunate that a leader of Anthony’s caliber is available to help guide the Company as we search for a new CEO. He built the company from the ground up, and there is no one with more passion and energy for loanDepot than Anthony.”
Hsieh also thanked Martell for his leadership in a press statement.
Anthony Hsieh
“We are grateful to Frank for his leadership during this pivotal time and wish him all the best,” Hsieh said. “loanDepot is a special company with unique potential — and I am all in as we work together to drive a new era of growth and innovation while continuing to delight customers in everything we do.”
Martell said it was a “privilege” to lead the company during the last three years of what ended up being a challenging market. The executive also previously served as CEO of CoreLogic.
“I am so proud of all that we accomplished together,” Martell said in a statement. “With the key priorities Vision 2025 successfully completed, now is the right time to welcome a new CEO for loanDepot’s next chapter. I look forward to the Company’s future success as a big fan of Team loanDepot and a significant shareholder.”
Frank Martell
LoanDepot was in the red for much of the last three years, only bouncing back to more positive earnings at the end of 2024 for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2021. The lender’s stock price started to tick upwards after Thursday’s announcement.
Hsieh’s return to the company comes after he was ousted as executive chairman in early 2023. The board voted to remove him as executive chairman one day after he used his majority voting power to nominate Steve Ozonian for election to the company’s board of directors. The battle continued for a few months until Hsieh was ultimately successful in getting Ozonian nominated, and the number of board directors was reduced from nine to eight in April 2023.
LoanDepot specified in filings this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Dawn Lepore and John Lee will be up for re-election at the company’s 2025 annual meeting.
Nikul Patel has also been appointed to an advisory role to the board and executive team. Patel cofounded personal loan platform LoanGlide. He was also previously an executive at LendingTree and cofounded listings portal Movoto.
