George Smith Partners Leads Expansion with New Promotions

Jonathan Lee

Los Angeles—Nearly two months after the passing away of industry veteran David Rifkind, George Smith Partners has announced a new leadership structure with the promotion of two principals to co-managing directors.

The two managing directors, Jonathan Lee and Shahin Yazdi, will be responsible with driving the company’s platform forward alongside Co-Principal Bryan Shaffer and Co-Founders Gary Tenzer, Steve Bram, and Gary Mozer.

“We are poised to grow to an even higher level of activity while upholding our strict standards of excellence, allowing us to attract and retain the best employees and clients,” Lee said in a prepared statement.

In their new roles, they will be in charge of overseeing the company’s business development and manage corporate operation. In addition, Lee and Yazdi intend to ramp up recruitment as they have plans to open new office locations. “Our firm has a reputation as a leader in the industry, and through this new expansion plan, we will be able to serve more clients and facilitate more financing than ever before,” Yazdi added in prepared remarks.

Shahin Yazdi

Lee holds an extensive background in the industry, having arranged more than $2 billion in financing across all product types since joining the company in 2005. Yazdi has closed more than $1 billion in financing across all property types since joining George Smith Partners in 2007. Both have been promoted as principals in 2015.

“George Smith Partners has a proven track record and a deep history of success in the capital markets sector. Our innovative structuring expertise, strong lender relationships, and entrepreneurial culture have enabled us to grow rapidly and secure more than $44 billion in financing on behalf of our clients to date,” Steve Bram, principal & co-founder of George Smith Partners , said in a prepared statement.

Images courtesy of George Smith Partners