Richard S. Ressler has served as our chief executive officer, president and a director since February 2018, and as the chairman of our board of directors since August 2018. He has served as the chairman of the investment risk management committee since April 2022 and served as a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee from August 2018 to March 2022.
Mr. Ressler is the founder and President of Orchard Capital Corp. (“Orchard Capital”), a firm that provides consulting and advisory services to companies in which Orchard Capital or its affiliates invest. Through his affiliation with Orchard Capital, Mr. Ressler serves in various senior capacities with, among others, CIM Group, L.P. (together with its controlled affiliates, “CIM”), a community-focused real estate and infrastructure owner, operator, lender and developer, and the indirect parent of our external manager, CIM Real Estate Finance Management, LLC (“CMFT Management” or our “manager”), and our property manager, Orchard First Source Asset Management (together with its controlled affiliates, “OFSAM”), which provides personnel staffing to OFS Capital Management, LLC, a registered investment adviser focusing primarily on investments in middle market and broadly syndicated U.S. loans, debt and equity positions in collateralized loan obligations and other structured credit investments, and OFS CLO Management, LLC, a registered investment adviser focusing primarily on investments in broadly syndicated U.S. loans. OFS Capital Management, LLC serves as a sub-advisor to our investment advisor, CIM Capital IC Management, LLC (“CIM Capital IC Management”), for securities and certain other investments, and OCV Management, LLC (“OCV”), an investor, owner and operator of technology companies.
Mr. Ressler also serves as a board member for various public and private companies in which Orchard Capital or its affiliates invest, including, through an agreement with Orchard Capital, as non-executive chairman of the board of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZD), formerly known as j2Global, Inc. Through his affiliation with CIM, Mr. Ressler has served as chairman of the board of Creative Media & Community Trust Corporation (fka CIM Commercial Credit Corporation) (NASDAQ: CMCT) (“CMCT”), a publicly traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that invests primarily in creative office and residential properties, since March 2014. He served as chief executive officer, president and director of CIM Income NAV, Inc. (“CINAV”) from February 2018, and as chairman of the board from August 2018, until CINAV’s merger with the Company in December 2021.
Mr. Ressler served as chief executive officer, president and director of Cole Office & Industrial REIT (CCIT III), Inc. (“CCIT III”) from February 2018, and as chairman of the board from August 2018, until CCIT III’s merger with our company in December 2020. Mr. Ressler also served as director of Cole Office & Industrial REIT (CCIT II), Inc. (“CCIT II”) from January 2019 until CCIT II’s merger with Griffin Realty Trust, Inc. (“GRT”) in March 2021. He served as a director of Cole Credit Property Trust V, Inc. (“CCPT V”) from January 2019 to October 2019. Mr. Ressler co-founded CIM in 1994 and serves as the executive chairman of CIM, and as an officer of various affiliates of CIM, including our manager. Mr. Ressler co-founded the predecessor of OFSAM in 2001 and chairs its executive committee. Mr. Ressler co-founded OCV in 2016 and chairs its executive committee.
Prior to founding Orchard Capital, from 1988 until 1994, Mr. Ressler served as Vice Chairman of Brooke Group Limited, the predecessor of Vector Group, Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) and served in various executive capacities at VGR and its subsidiaries. Prior to VGR, Mr. Ressler was with Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., where he focused on merger and acquisition transactions and the financing needs of middle-market companies. Mr. Ressler began his career in 1983 with Cravath, Swaine and Moore LLP, working on public offerings, private placements, and merger and acquisition transactions. Mr. Ressler holds a B.A. from Brown University, and J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Columbia University.