Billionaire LoanDepot Founder Cashes In on Housing Boom

  • LoanDepot taps junk-bond market for $200 million owner payout
  • Hsieh joins growing ranks of mortgage-market billionaires
Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
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LoanDepot Inc. logged its best year ever in 2020, as record-low rates turned mortgage lending into one of the few bright spots of the pandemic economy. Billionaire founder Anthony Hsieh and his private-equity partners are ready to cash in.

The 11-year-old company, which went public earlier this year, sold new junk-rated bonds on Tuesday to refinance debt and to pay its shareholders a $200 million special dividend, according to a copy of the debt documents reviewed by Bloomberg.