The Closing: Ralph Herzka

From the February issue: Ralph Herzka is chairman and CEO of Meridian Capital Group, the Manhattan-based commercial mortgage brokerage he co-founded with fellow investors Aaron Birnbaum, Jeff Weinberg and Howard Zuckerman in 1991. Some of Meridian’s big-ticket deals in recent years include $737 million in financing for Brookfield Property Partners’ Putnam portfolio buy in 2014, a $785 million loan for RXR Realty’s acquisition of the Helmsley Building in 2015 and $1.2 billion in debt for RXR and David Werner’s purchase of 1285 Sixth Avenue last year. Herzka was also a co-founder of Beech Street Capital — a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loan servicer that Capital One acquired for an undisclosed sum in 2013. The Brooklyn native was one of the first big names in New York City real estate to make a maximum personal contribution to Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House. [more]