Page 8 - General Value Prop Booklet

REZA JAHANGIRI, FOUNDER AND CEO AMERICAN ADVISORS
GROUP, OUTSIDE ITS EIGHT-STORY HEADQUARTERS NEAR
THE OUTLETS AT ORANGE SHOPPING CENTER.

BY JEFF COLINS
AUGUST 31, 2017

How Tom Selleck Helped
a Reverse Mortgage Lender

Rise to the Top

He’s not a celebrity. You’ve never heard his name; you’ve probably never
heard of his company.

But if you watch late-night TV you’ve seen his company’s ads. They’re the
spots that feature Tom Selleck, the mustachioed star of “Blue Bloods” and,
long-ago, “Magnum P.I.,” as the pitchman for reverse mortgages.

Reza Jahangiri knows the power of celebrity. He’s used it to push his Orange-
based company — reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group — to
No. 1 in the nation.

In recent years, revenue at AAG has more than tripled, from $63 million in
2012 to $216 million last year. The number of jobs he’s created has jumped
even faster, from 300 five years ago to more than 1,200 today. A new batch of
recruits joins AAG every two weeks. Two-year veterans say they feel like old
timers.

But those reassuring Tom Selleck ads are just one reason AAG originates one
fourth of the nation’s reverse mortgages.

Jahangiri — the skateboarding, guitar-playing son of Iranian refugees — is
another.

“I think Reza has tremendous vision, and he sees where his company and the
entire industry can go,” said Jim Mahoney, a long-time industry leader and
chairman of Celink, a reverse-mortgage servicer.

“He brought in the best talent possible to build a first-class organization.
… He’s a person who rolls up his sleeves on any topic and finds the best
solutions.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON WWW.OCREGISTER.COM