PHOENIX – Nov. 11, 2020 – As part of its strategy to advance its Real Estate Solutions Center and future business plans, real estate tech innovator Offerpad, based in Phoenix, Arizona, announces the expansion of its Executive Team.
David Connelly, previously with Citigroup (NYSE: C), joins Offerpad as the company’s new Chief Growth Officer, and from Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE: TMHC), Ben Aronovitch has been hired as its new Chief Legal Officer. Connelly and Aronovitch join Offerpad’s team of executives who, together, have decades of combined real estate expertise and experience at companies such as American Express, Coupang, DoorDash, GoDaddy, Morgan Stanley and Pulte Homes, among others.
“With the addition of David and Ben, we’ve made the best real estate team in the world even better” said Offerpad Founder and CEO Brian Bair. “Their extensive expertise and past experience will help move Offerpad through the next exciting phase of our growth and development. With these two innovative leaders on board, Offerpad will continue to respond to and provide even more new solutions to enhance the changing marketplace and meet all of our customers’ real estate needs.”
Connelly now runs growth initiatives for the flourishing real estate tech company. His responsibilities include launching new revenue channels, assisting with capital markets opportunities and helping to lead strategic partnerships for the company.
Connelly is a 30-year Wall Street finance veteran with a broad background in banking, capital markets, and fixed income. At Citigroup he worked in all areas of specialty finance, as well as residential and commercial real estate as a Managing Director in the international organization’s North American Solutions Department. Before Citigroup, Connelly spent 25 years at Bear Stearns in Chicago as a Senior Managing Director in the firm’s institutional Fixed Income Department where his responsibilities included origination and distribution of all mortgage products, including high-grade and high-yield residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS), and a full range of structured products.
“Offerpad is in a great position to do incredible things in the months and years to come,” said Connelly. “I’m happy to join such an inventive and tenacious executive team, and I look forward to building out new and exciting business channels for the company that will benefit the consumer.”
As Offerpad’s new CLO, Aronovitch will lead the company’s legal, compliance and risk management functions. In his new position Aronovitch will draw from previous high-level experience as a seasoned corporate and transactional practitioner to help launch strategic initiatives in line with the company’s development outlook.
At Taylor Morrison, he held the position of Vice President & Deputy General Counsel since 2013. Key duties for Aronovitch included M&A and financing transactions; significant real estate portfolio transactions and joint ventures; corporate governance; public company reporting; and the company’s ESG program.
Before Taylor Morrison, Aronovitch was a corporate attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York where he helped lead the team that conducted Taylor Morrison’s 2013 initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to Paul, Weiss, he practiced in the corporate department at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in both their New York and London offices.
“Offerpad is a strategy-driven and forward-thinking company. I’m pleased to be coming on board at such a pivotal moment in the company’s development. With an already stellar executive team, I look forward to contributing to its vision and forward progress,” said Aronovitch.
