Lee Smith

Lee Smith is executive vice president and president of Mortgage at Flagstar Bank, a position he assumed in September 2020. In this role, he is responsible for the direction and oversight of all aspects of mortgage, including mortgage sales and originations, mortgage fulfillment operations, and mortgage servicing, as well as the strategic growth of Flagstar’s mortgage and servicing businesses.

Smith joined Flagstar in 2013 as executive vice president and chief operating officer and held that position until his appointment as head of Mortgage. As COO, he played an integral role in the turnaround of Flagstar in addition to his responsibilities for several key business units—including mortgage servicing—as well as strategy, balance sheet and cost optimization, and mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Flagstar, he was a partner with MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, a private equity fund based in New York, where he managed a number of portfolio companies across a multitude of industries and sat on various boards.

Earlier in his career, he was a senior director at Zolfo Cooper LLC, an advisory and interim management firm. Additionally, he served as a vice president in Ernst & Young’s national restructuring group in both New York and the United Kingdom.

He serves on the board of trustees of Cranbrook Schools and sits on both the finance and audit committees of the board of governors and is vice chairman of the Cranbrook Institute of Science. He is also chairman of Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which is dedicated to revitalizing distressed neighborhoods and communities in Detroit and is part of the national LISC network.

He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.