CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc (CMFT)

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

T. Patrick Duncan has served as an independent director since September 2015, as a member of our nominating and corporate governance committee since August 2018, and as chairman of that committee since April 2022. He has served as the chairman of the compensation committee and as a member of the investment risk management committee since March 2022. He previously served as the non-executive chairman of the board of directors from November 2015 until August 2018, as the chairman of the valuation, compensation and affiliate transactions committee from August 2018 until March 2022, and as a member of the audit committee from September 2015 until March 2022. Mr. Duncan also served as a member of the board of directors of CINAV from August 2013 until September 2015.

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For 27 years, Mr. Duncan served in various roles at USAA Real Estate Company, a private real estate investment company, most recently as its chief executive officer from January 2005 until he retired in May 2013. Mr. Duncan also served as vice chairman of the board of directors of USAA Real Estate Company and as a director of United Lender Services, a USAA company, from his retirement in May 2013 until December 2015. Prior to serving as chief executive officer, Mr. Duncan held the position of senior vice president, real estate operations with USAA Real Estate, with responsibilities that included the direction of all acquisitions, sales, co-investments, build-to-suits, land development capital markets, management and leasing of real estate.

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Before joining USAA Real Estate in 1986, Mr. Duncan was with Trammell Crow Company in Dallas, Texas with responsibilities as a financial partner of the firm and prior to that, Mr. Duncan was a manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP. Mr. Duncan previously served on the boards of Meridian Industrial Trust, a former New York Stock Exchange-listed REIT, from 1994 to 1998, American Industrial Properties REIT, a former New York Stock Exchange-listed REIT, from 1996 to 2001, and Square Mile Capital Management, LLC, a diversified real estate investment firm, from 2012 to 2014. Mr. Duncan previously served on the board of the Texas Research and Technology Foundation and the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE). Mr. Duncan received a degree from the University of Arizona and is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Commercial Investment Member, and holds a Texas Real Estate Broker’s License.

W. Brian Kretzmer has served as an independent director of our company since February 2018, as a member of our audit committee since August 2018, and as a member of our nominating and corporate governance committee since March 2022. He served as a member of the valuation, compensation and affiliate transactions committee from August 2018 until March 2022. Mr. Kretzmer has served as a director of Ziff Davis, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZD) since July 2007, and is a member of the Ziff Davis audit committee. Mr. Kretzmer currently operates his own consultancy practice and is an investor in several private firms where he serves in multiple capacities.

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From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Kretzmer was Chief Executive Officer of MAI Systems Corporation (which operated principally through its subsidiary, Hotel Information Systems), a provider of enterprise management solutions for lodging organizations. He also served as Chief Financial Officer of MAI Systems Corporation from 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2000. Mr. Kretzmer is a thirty-year veteran in technology industries. He served as an independent director of CINAV from February 2018, and as a member of its audit committee and valuation, compensation and affiliate transactions committee from August 2018, until CINAV’s merger with our company in December 2021. He also served as an independent director of CCIT III from February 2018 until its merger with our company in December 2020. Mr. Kretzmer holds a B.A. from Montclair State University and an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Howard A. Silver has served as an independent director and a member of our audit committee since October 2019, and has served as the chairman of our audit committee since January 2022. He served as a member of the valuation, compensation and affiliate transactions committee from October 2019 until March 2022. Since February 2021, he has served as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of Alpine Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: REVEU), a special purpose acquisition company. He also served as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of CCIT III from July 2016, as well as a member of CCIT III’s valuation, compensation and affiliate transactions committee from August 2018, until its merger with our company in December 2020.

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From 1994 until 2007, Mr. Silver held various positions with Equity Inns, Inc., a publicly listed hospitality REIT on the New York Stock Exchange, including chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, chief operating officer and secretary. Until the sale of Equity Inns to Whitehall Global Real Estate Funds in October 2007, Equity Inns was the largest hotel REIT focused on the upscale extended stay, all suite and midscale limited service segments of the hotel industry. From 1992 until 1994, Mr. Silver served as chief financial officer of Alabaster Originals, L.P., a fashion jewelry wholesaler. Prior to joining Equity Inns, Mr. Silver was employed by Ernst & Young LLP from 1987 to 1992 and by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 1978 to 1985, both global accounting firms. From 2012 until the sale of the company in 2018, Mr. Silver served as a member of the board of directors and as lead independent director of Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EDR), a publicly listed collegiate housing REIT.

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Mr. Silver has also served as a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee of Jernigan Capital, Inc. (NYSE: JCAP), a publicly listed mortgage REIT focused on lending to self-storage facilities, since April 2015. From January 2014 until the sale of the company in January 2016, he served as a member of the board of directors and as chairman of the audit committee of Landmark Apartment Trust, Inc., a publicly registered, non-listed multifamily REIT, and, from its inception in 2004 through the sale of the company in November 2013, he served as a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee of CapLease, Inc. (NYSE: LSE), a publicly listed net lease REIT. From 2004 until the sale of the company in May 2012, Mr. Silver also served as a member of the board of directors of Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF), a publicly listed family entertainment resort company. Mr. Silver graduated cum laude from the University of Memphis with a B.S. in Accountancy and has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1980.

Jason Schreiber has served as a director of our company since April 2022. Mr. Schreiber has served as a Principal of CIM in its Investments department since May 2016, and as a member of its Investment Committee since 2016. From April 2014 to April 2016, Mr. Schreiber served as a 1st Vice President, Investments, at CIM. He also served at CIM from May 2010 to March 2014 as a Vice President, Investments, and from July 2007 to April 2010 as an Associate, Investments. Prior to joining CIM, Mr. Schreiber served from July 2001 to July 2005 as an Analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Schreiber received a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and the History of Art from Brown University.