Russ Ramsey

W. Russell "Russ" Ramsey is an American financier and philanthropist, and the founder, chairman and CEO of asset management firm Ramsey Asset Management. He cofounded the Washington, D.C., investment firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group in 1989, where he served as president, secretary and co-CEO through 2001.[1] He also served as JV partner and a member of the Board of Directors until his retirement in 2007. He is also a founding investor in the non-profit investment organization Venture Philanthropy Partners.

Russ Ramsey
EducationGeorge Washington University (BA)

In 2014, Ramsey led an attempt to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to his native Washington, D.C., serving as chairman and CEO of Washington 2024.

In 2016, Ramsey announced the formation of the Greater Washington Partnership, an entity consisting of CEOs and regional business leaders in the Capital Region from Baltimore to Richmond, to focus on large economic and social/community opportunities led by the business community.

Early life and education

Russ Ramsey grew up in Washington, D.C.[2][3] He graduated from Suitland High School in 1977.[4] As a member of George Washington University's Class of 1981, he studied business administration and graduated with a bachelor's degree.[5] Ramsey received a baseball scholarship[2] and became senior-year team captain and MVP[6] of the George Washington Colonials.[4] He is a GW Athletic Hall of Famer[7] and member of the All-Century Baseball Team.[8]

Career

Ramsey began working in the early 1980s as a salesman for business equipment company Pitney Bowes.[9] Following his time there, he joined brokerage firm Johnston, Lemon & Co.'s sales and trading group in 1986,[8] and became a vice president of the company.[10] At Johnston, Lemon, he met Emmanuel Joseph Friedman and Eric Francis Billings, who would later become his business partners.[11] In 1989, all three left the firm and formed a new venture called Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group (FBR), where Ramsey served as president[12] and co-CEO.[13]

In 1997, the firm held its initial public offering, raising $206 million.[11] The same year, the Northern Virginia Technology Council named Ramsey its "Financier of the Year".[8]

Within its first seven years, FBR raised $7 billion in capital for clients and had become the largest trading and investment banking firm in Washington, D.C.[11] The firm invested in emerging tech companies.[14] After the IPO, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group's stock price increased 50 percent.[13]

In 2001, Ramsey left FBR[11] to form the hedge fund management firm Ramsey Asset Management, based in Reston, Virginia.[15][16]

Newsweek magazine named Ramsey as one of its four "people to see" in Washington's finance community.[17]

In 2016, Ramsey co-founded the Greater Washington Partnership (GWP) along with Ted Leonsis and Peter Scher.[18] As of November 2019, Ramsey serves as Board of Chair of Greater Washington Partnership.[19][20] The Greater Washington Partnership and its Capital Collaborative of Leaders in Academia and Business (CoLAB) is a non-profit alliance of CEOs and business leaders in the Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Richmond area, otherwise known as the Capital Region.[21]

The GWP was formed as an initiative to boost the region's economy by addressing issues of transportation, human capital, innovation, and entrepreneurship through collaboration among the area's largest employers.[22] With the launch of the Capital CoLAB in June 2018, the Partnership expanded to include leaders from academic institutions in order to focus on talent and innovation initiatives.[23][24]

In 2021, Ramsey was inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement of Greater Washington.[25]

Other activities and philanthropy

Ramsey served on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater George Washington University for 15 years from 1998 to 2013. He chaired the board during his last six years as trustee.[5][26] During his tenure on the board, Ramsey chaired the committee that lead to Steven Knapp's hiring as the 16th president of George Washington University.[15] He also oversaw a 20-year plan to develop the university's campus site at Foggy Bottom and its strategic plan development.[5] Additionally, in 2005, the Ramsey family donated $1 million to the university to create an investment portfolio to be run by Master of Business Administration students, so that they could build real world finance expertise.[27][28] In 2013, he was elected Chairman Emeritus of GWU Board of Trustees and was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service in May 2014.[29]

Ramsey has served on a number of boards and councils, including JER Investors Trust's board,[27] the National Geographic Society's Council of Advisors,[15] the Virginia Governor's Advisory Council,[27] the Council on Foreign Relations[30] and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges board,[27] the Washington-Baltimore chapter of the World's President Organization, the D.C. College Access Program Board of Directors,[31] the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus Advisory Council, and the Advisory Board for Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot 2020 initiative.

Together with his wife, Norma, Ramsey established the W. Russell and Norma G. Ramsey Foundation, which provides funds to help at-risk families.[28] The foundation has funded scholarships to the D.C. area's Big Brothers Big Sisters program.[28] Additionally, he and his wife were early investors in Venture Philanthropy Partners,[28] which invests in D.C.-area nonprofits.[32] Ramsey has also made individual contributions to events and causes including Fight for Children's annual Fight Night fundraiser,[33][34] Make A Wish Foundation,[8][35] Potomac School,[26] and Inova Fairfax Hospital System.[36]

Washington 2024

In 2013, Washington, D.C., businessman Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards,[37] recruited Ramsey for an effort to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to the city.[26] Ramsey was selected in March 2014 as chairman and CEO of the nonprofit Washington 2024, founded to run the city's effort to host the games.[16] Washington 2024 also included former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and former Mayor Anthony Williams.[3] The group publicly announced its board, logo, website and theme, "Unity", six months later. On behalf of the organization, Ramsey and Leonsis, its vice chairman, lobbied for support around the Capital Beltway.[37]

Ramsey and the others on the Washington 2024 panel competed against committees in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to be the first U.S. city to host the Summer Olympics since the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.[37] During the campaign, Ramsey proposed development along the Anacostia River, which includes some of D.C.'s poorer communities, a move similar to how officials in London sought use the 2012 Summer Olympics to economically boost East London.[38] Ramsey led a five-person group to pitch Washington, D.C., to the 16-member U.S. Olympic Committee in December 2014.[39] On January 8, 2015, the committee selected to submit Boston to the International Olympic Committee as America's candidate for the games. Following the announcement, Ramsey released a statement that he would continue working with leaders in the D.C. area to develop opportunities for young people in sport.[37]

Personal life

Ramsey lives with his wife, Norma, who directs the Ramsey Foundation, in Great Falls, Virginia. The couple has four children.[3]

References
  1. "FBR co-founder steps down as CEO". The Washington Post. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  2. "Tribute to W. Russell Ramsey: Senate - Congressional Record". Congress.gov. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  3. Holan, Mark (24 October 2014). "Russ Ramsey: The face of D.C.'s Olympic bid". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  4. "GW Athletics: 1995 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee". GWSports.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  5. Hiatt, Kurtis (17 May 2013). "Paying Tribute to Outgoing Chairman W. Russell Ramsey". GW Today. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  6. "W. Russell Ramsey Elected Chairman of The George Washington University Board of Trustees | Office of Media Relations | The George Washington University". mediarelations.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  7. "Furthermore". The Washington Post. 11 January 1995. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015 – via Highbeam.
  8. "Executive Profile: William Russell Ramsey". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  9. "Sales seen as rewarding career". Lawrence Journal-World. 20 May 1985. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  10. "TOP ANALYST, 18 ON HIS STAFF LEAVE JOHNSTON, LEMON CO". The Washington Post. 29 June 1989. Retrieved 23 Dec 2019.
  11. Heath, Thomas (23 December 2008). "Last of FBR's Founders to Retire as CEO". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  12. Hinden, Stan (29 June 1989). "Top Analyst, 18 on His Staff Leave Johnston, Lemon & Co". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 April 2015 – via Nexis.
  13. O'Brien, Sarah (14 February 2000). "D.C. tech rise augurs killing for feisty Friedman Billings". InvestmentNews. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  14. Henry, Shannon (13 February 2001). "FBR's Co-CEO To Start New Fund Venture". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015 – via Highbeam.
  15. Tanabe, Karin (7 May 2007). "Tech Finance King Becomes College Kingmaker". Bisnow on Business. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  16. Otto, George; Fruehling, Douglas (11 March 2014). "DC 2024 names Russ Ramsey chair, Ted Leonsis vice chair". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  17. Pearlstein, Steven; Irwin, Neil (20 May 2001). "Signs of Resilience Appear Amid Region's Wreckage; 'Old' Tech Sector Provides Relief From the Downturn". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 May 2015 – via Nexis.
  18. "Russ Ramsey and top CEOs unveil Baltimore-to-Richmond regional group". Washington Business Journal. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  19. "Greater Washington Partnership CEO to step down". Washington Business Journal. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  20. "Our Team". Greater Washington Partnership. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  21. "Preparing the Workforce of the Washington, D.C., Region for a Tech-Focused Present and Future". Urban Land Magazine. 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  22. "New Greater Washington Partnership aims high". Federal News Network. 31 May 2017.
  23. "A group of local CEOs is partnering with universities to build a set of regional tech credentials". Washington Business Journal. 22 June 2018.
  24. "Capital CoLab". Greater Washington Partnership.
  25. "2021 Washington Business Hall of Fame Celebrates Local Icons, Raises Over $1.25 Million". Junior Achievement of Greater Washington. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  26. Holan, Mark (23 October 2014). "Here's how Russ Ramsey came to chair Washington 2024". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  27. "W. Russell Ramsey Named Chairman of Board of Trustees". By George!. March 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  28. "The Philanthropic 50". Washington Life Magazine. June 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  29. "The George Washington University Celebrates Commencement". gwtoday.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  30. "Membership roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  31. "DC-CAP Board of Directors". DCCAP.
  32. Sifakis, George (13 April 2015). "3 Key Lessons That Have the Potential to Change the World! - An Exclusive Interview With Carol Thompson Cole, Venture Philanthropy Partners CEO". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  33. Heath, Thomas (5 November 2012). "Fight Night brings in $2.2M for children's nonprofit". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2015 – via Nexis.
  34. "Kevin Plank: Under Armour founder's winning formula for $4 million Fight Night". The Washington Post. 15 November 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  35. Ianzito, Christina (5 February 2001). "Make-a-wish catches disco fever". The Washington Times. Retrieved 7 May 2015 – via Nexis.
  36. Roberts, Roxanne (22 April 1996). "Cause for Celebration; With Big Fund-Raisers, Northern Virginians Flex Their civic-Minded Muscle". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2015 – via Nexis.
  37. Sheinin, Dave (8 January 2015). "USOC chooses Boston over D.C. as its candidate to bid for 2024 Summer Games". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  38. O'Connell, Jonathan (8 September 2014). "The economic argument for bringing the Olympics to Washington". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  39. Sheinin, Dave (16 December 2014). "DC2024 Olympic bid to present its case to USOC board of directors". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
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