Sammy Roy, 34

When the University of Texas kicked off its undergraduate real estate certificate program, Sammy Roy was among the first in line. 

Roy learned from professors, but also from developers who were living and breathing real estate every day. “It was pretty clear pretty quickly that this was an industry that would keep me engaged and curious for a long time,” he said. 

At the time, shockwaves from the Global Financial Crisis were still being felt, and they became part of the curriculum. “We were hearing a lot about how systemically the banks were impacting the overall economy, and I thought, ‘Real estate sounds great, capital markets also sounds great,’ so I targeted jobs in that sphere — and it all worked out OK,” he said. 

We’ll say! 

Roy joined Wells Fargo 13 years ago and hasn’t looked back. In his current role, he leads a team of portfolio managers overseeing balance sheet originations and asset management, with notable deals including bridge financing for the take-private of Air Communities on behalf of Blackstone and Apartment Income REIT Corporation; and the cheeky wee $1.6 billion construction loan for Related Companies’ 70 Hudson Yards. 

Coincidentally, 50 Hudson Yards was the very first deal Roy worked on when he moved to New York, so taking the lead in structuring and underwriting 70 Hudson Yards’ loan eight years later is something he describes as an incredible experience. “It was a lot of fun taking what I learned as a younger person on the deal team to being the lead person on the deal team. It was an incredibly important transaction for the city, for our client, and for us,” Roy said.

Roy’s day-to-day routine is split between large single-asset deals or supporting Wells Fargo’s private equity sponsors on large M&A deals, as with Air Communities. “It’s a nice adrenaline rush, but solving all the little problems that come up along the way and then delivering at the closing table always feels like a huge win,” he said.

Now that he’s in the thick of capital markets, Roy can’t imagine being elsewhere. 

“I really enjoy solving problems,” he said. “Over time I’ve realized I’m not quite as interested in the development side, and I just love the sheer volume that we see in the debt capital markets.”