Anthony Hsieh urges LoanDepot board to ‘cease wasting’ stockholder capital

Anthony Hsieh, the Founder and largest voting stockholder of loanDepot, issued a statement in relation to his nomination of Steve Ozonian as a director, saying in part: "The recent challenges in the financial markets highlight the need for responsible stewardship by all corporate boards. Today I call on the Board of loanDepot to avoid the irresponsible expenditure of stockholder capital to wage an unnecessary proxy fight. I have been working together with the Board for nearly four months to bring in a new director who, I am confident, has the skills and perspective needed to work with management to develop a strategy that will help loanDepot emerge from the current economic climate stronger than ever. As the Company has acknowledged in its public filings, I have approximately 57% of combined voting power at loanDepot which I intend to vote in favor of Mr. Ozonian. As it stands, the Board is poised to waste significant financial resources on a potential proxy contest with its largest stockholder over a single, highly qualified independent nominee. Stockholders should ask, ‘How did we get here and how much more stockholder capital has to be wasted before we can come to the right conclusion?’ The practical and responsible path to save stockholder capital and management’s time would be for the Company to nominate Mr. Ozonian, an independent, highly experienced and well-regarded member of the mortgage industry, for election to the Board. I remain passionate about loanDepot’s future success and believe bringing Mr. Ozonian’s expertise to refresh the Board, while maintaining its current structure, will best position the Company for long-term success. In this challenging economic environment, the Board must make a realistic decision with the best interest of the Company’s stockholders, and our Company, in mind."