Jay Farner
Jay Farner | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 24, 1973 United States |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, investor, CEO |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Ronin Capital Partners; former Vice Chairman and CEO at Rocket Companies (Quicken Loans) |
Jay Farner (born March 24, 1973) is an American entrepreneur and investor, known as the founder and CEO of Ronin Capital Partners, a venture capital enterprise. He formerly held the positions of Vice Chairman and CEO at Rocket Companies (previously Quicken Loans), which includes Rocket Mortgage, recognized as the largest retail mortgage lender across the United States. Additionally, Farner was CEO of Rock Holdings Inc.
Early life and education
In 1995, Farner earned a bachelor's degree in Finance from Michigan State University, where he also revitalized the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi. He currently lives in the Detroit metropolitan region.
Career
Following his graduation, Farner started his career in 1996 as a mortgage banker at Quicken Loans (then known as Rock Financial) alongside Dan Gilbert. By 1998, he advanced to vice president of web mortgage banking. Intuit purchased Rock Financial in 1999 for $336 million but sold it back to Gilbert in 2002 for $130 million. The company grew to provide direct-to-consumer home loans on a national scale. Later, Farner served as president and chief marketing officer at Quicken Loans, spearheading marketing initiatives and earning recognition in Crain’s Detroit Business’' 40 Under 40 list in 2011.
In 2014, Farner orchestrated a widely publicized March Madness bracket competition with Yahoo Sports featuring a $1 billion prize. Although only $3 million was distributed, the campaign achieved billions of digital interactions and generated millions of leads, becoming highly regarded as an exceptional public relations effort.
The year 2015 saw Farner and Quicken Loans introduce Rocket Mortgage, the industry’s first fully digital, end-to-end consumer mortgage platform and pioneer of electronic closings. TechCrunch described this innovation as the mortgage sector’s “iPhone moment,” comparing it to TurboTax’s impact on tax preparation.
Rocket Mortgage’s commercial during the 2016 Super Bowl highlighted mobile mortgage approval under the slogan “Push Button, Get Mortgage.” Despite some concerns linking such accessibility to subprime lending risks, Quicken Loans avoided these issues during the financial crisis by steering clear of subprime loans.
In 2017, Farner was elevated to CEO of Quicken Loans. That same year, Quicken Loans originated $25 billion in retail home loans, surpassing Wells Fargo’s $23 billion to claim the title of largest U.S. retail home lender. In August 2020, Rocket Companies Inc., the parent company of Quicken Loans, launched its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $1.8 billion through the sale of 100 million shares on its debut trading day.
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- Living people
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American businesspeople
- 21st-century American philanthropists
- American billionaires
- Businesspeople from Detroit
- Michigan State University alumni
- American technology chief executives
- American businesspeople in real estate
- 1973 births