Ladder Capital Corp. announced that Michael Mazzei, a member of the Company's board of directors, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. Mr. Mazzei stepped down from Ladder's board to fully devote his time to this new role. Effective April 1, 2020, Andrew E. Witt will transition to Chief Operating Officer of the Company, previously serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer and President.

Michael J. Mazzei, age 61, will be Chief Executive Officer and President effective April 1, 2020. Mr. Mazzei will lead and oversee Colony Credit Real Estate operations, including investment and credit risk, capital raising and relationship management activities among stockholders, clients, partners, financing counterparties, research analysts and rating agencies. Mr. Mazzei has served as a member of the board of directors of Ladder Capital Corp.

since June 2017. Previously, Mr. Mazzei served as President of Ladder Capital from June 2012 through June 2017. From September 2009 to June 2012, Mr. Mazzei served as Global Head of the CMBS and Bank Loan Syndication Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Prior to that, Mr. Mazzei served as Co-Head of CMBS and Commercial Real Estate Debt Markets at Barclays Capital from March 2004 to June 2009. Prior to Barclays Capital, Mr. Mazzei spent 20 years at Lehman Brothers, including 18 years in commercial real estate finance-related functions. Having started in commercial mortgage trading in 1984, Mr. Mazzei became the head of CMBS in 1991 and served as the Co-Head of Global Real Estate Investment Banking from March 2002 to February 2004.

Andrew E. Witt, age 42, will be Chief Operating Officer effective April 1, 2020. From February 29, 2020 until his appointment as Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Witt served as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Mr. Witt is Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Global Credit at Colony Capital, Inc. In his roles at Colony Capital, Mr. Witt is primarily focused on credit related operations and initiatives, including product development, investor relations and marketing of private offerings globally.

Prior to taking on this most recent role he served as an investment professional responsible for the identification, evaluation, and consummation of real estate related investments. Mr. Witt also served as an Executive Vice President of Colony American Homes where he was responsible for overseeing investments in single family residential property which culminated in the acquisition of nearly 20,000 homes.