Forbes released its list of billionaires in 2021, adding several new leaders from the mortgage industry.
Over the past year, an IPO craze took hold as several lenders went public, and many began trading in 2021. Many lenders took their company public including Finance of America, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), Home Point Capital, loanDepot and Rocket Mortgage.
And for some, that was enough to propel them to billionaire status. This year, UWM CEO Mat Ishbia and loanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh joined Rocket Companies CEO Daniel Gilbert as some of the richest men in mortgage lending.
Rocket and UWM continue to battle for market share. In the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data report, UWM had surpassed Wells Fargo as the No. 2 lender, but still lagged behind Quicken Loans.
In 2020, Rocket originated a total of more than $320 billion in loan volume. Its partner network that includes its wholesale business grew 128 percent year over year to $106.5 billion. UWM last year closed $182.5 billion in loan volume, a 69 percent increase over 2019.
And the rivalry between the two companies continues to grow. Last month, Ishbia announced during a Facebook Live that it would no longer allow its brokers to do business with Rocket or Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp.
“If you work with them, you can’t work with UWM anymore, effective immediately,” Ishbia said. “I can’t stop you, but I’m not going to help you help the people that are hurting the broker channel, and that’s what’s going on right now. We don’t need to fund Fairway Independent or Rocket Mortgage to try to put brokers out of business. We don’t need to do that. If you want to do that as your own deal, no hard feelings, but you can’t work with UWM anymore.”
The rivalry between the two biggest lenders in the U.S. goes back years, and includes everything from accusations of littering flyers to a fight for the title of No. 1 mortgage lender. Now, the rivalry continues as Ishbia joins Gilbert on the list of billionaires.
Meet this year’s billionaire mortgage lenders:
No. 23 Daniel Gilbert — $51.9 billion
Dan Gilbert, cofounder of Quicken Loans Photo credit: Forbes
Dan Gilbert cofounded what would become Quicken Loans (now Rocket Mortgage), the largest mortgage lender in the U.S., in 1985 at 22 years old. “We are absolutely a more profitable (and better) business because we have a mission beyond the sole pursuit of profits,” Gilbert said. He was No. 230 on Forbes’ billionaires list in 2020.
No. 234 Mat Ishbia — $9.7 billion
Mat Ishbia
New to the list this year after taking his company public through a SPAC in January, Mat Ishbia is the president and CEO of Michigan-based wholesale mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage, founded by his father Jeff Ishbia in 1986.
No. 1008 Justin Ishbia — $3 billion
Brother to UWM CEO Mat Ishbia, Justin Ishbia is an investor in UWM. He owns a 22 percent stake in the company, and also became a billionaire when the company went public. His main focus is his Chicago-based private equity firm, Shore Capital Partners.
No. 1205 Anthony Hsieh — $2.6 billion
Anthony Hsieh
Anthony Hsieh is the founder and CEO of California-based mortgage lender loanDepot. He is new to the billionaire list this year. He founded loanDepot in 2010 and took it public in February 2021; he owns 54 percent of the company, which has a 2 percent float on the New York Stock Exchange.
No. 1664 William Foley — $1.9 billion
One executive from the title industry continues to make Forbes’ billionaire list every year since 2017: William Foley. Foley founded title insurance company Fidelity National Financial in 1984 and still serves as its chairman. He also served as chairman of Black Knight, a software and data provider for the mortgage industry, and Fidelity National Information Services.
Click here to see the real estate leaders new to the Forbes billionaires list.
