The Closing: Robert Verrone

The lending legend on the fallacy of "Large Loan Verrone," Barbie dolls and $20B in debt

Robert Verrone (credit: STUDIO SCRIVO)
Robert Verrone (credit: STUDIO SCRIVO)

From the July Issue: Robert Verrone is the founder of commercial mortgage brokerage Iron Hound Management Company, which has arranged and restructured more than $20 billion in debt and equity since launching in 2009. During the last real estate bubble, Verrone gained a reputation as a major risk-taker for providing large, interest-only loans to developers with little equity down. For that he earned the nickname “Large Loan Verrone.”

Verrone began his career at Bear Stearns, but after being let go in 1994, he joined North Carolina-based First Union (which later acquired Wachovia and took on its name) to lead the bank’s lending and securitization division. As co-head of Wachovia’s real estate group from 2007 to 2008, he oversaw a portfolio that grew to $80 billion in debt and managed as many as 600 employees. [more]

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