Andrew Housser

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Andrew Housser
Born (1973-08-09) August 9, 1973 (age 50)
Vancouver, Canada
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFreedom Financial Network
Freedom Debt Relief
Bills.com

Andrew Housser is an entrepreneur who co-founded Freedom Financial Network,[1] and who co-founded Bills.com.[citation needed]

Education[edit]

Housser attended Brentwood College School in Mill Bay, Canada. Housser received his MBA from Stanford Business School, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar,[2] and received a BA from Dartmouth College, where he graduated summa cum laude, and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.[3] Housser is on the Board of Advisors of the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College, serves on the board of Brentwood College School, and previously served on the Phillips Brooks School board for six years.[citation needed]

Career[edit]

Prior to founding Freedom Financial Network, Housser was an investor in a variety of services, manufacturing, and distribution companies at Littlejohn & Company, a private equity firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Prior to Littlejohn & Company, he worked for Smith Barney in New York City in the company's investment banking division.[4]

Housser and his business partner, Brad Stroh, founded Freedom Financial Network in 2002.[5] Housser serves on the American Fair Credit Council's (AFCC) board of directors, a position he has held since 2006, when it operated under the name The Association of Settlement Companies.[6] In 2010, he was awarded the association's President's Award for outstanding voluntary service to the organization and contributions that "benefits the consumer".[7]

In 2005, Stroh and Housser purchased the Bills.com domain and relaunched it as a website that provides consumers with information and interactive tools dealing with personal finance topics including debt relief assistance, mortgage loans, and insurance.[8] In 2008, Entrepreneur magazine named Bills.com No. 3 in the Hot 100 Fastest Growing Companies in America.[9]

In December 2013, Freedom Financial Network announced that Vulcan Capital, an investment group owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, would invest $125 million of venture capital in FreedomPlus, an online lending platform to make unsecured loans to consumers. Housser is CEO of FreedomPlus.[10]

In 2015, Stone Point Capital, a private equity firm based in Greenwich, CT purchased a minority stake in Freedom.[11]

In 2016, Freedom Financial Network and Stone Point Capital founded the Freedom Consumer Credit Fund LLC (FCCF), which funds the Freedom Financial Asset Management (FFAM) subsidiary of Freedom Financial Network. FFAM offers personal loan products to consumers to consolidate their debts, lower interest rates and convert revolving debt into fixed-amortizing installment loans. FFAM provides long-term risk-adjusted returns for investors in consumer lending.[12]

In 2019, Freedom Financial Network announced the launch of Lendage, its home mortgage business, founded to enable people to tap into their home value to consolidate debt, and start building a solid foundation for the future.

In 2021, Freedom Financial Network announced that it had surpassed more than $15 billion in debt settlement on behalf of over one million customers.[13]

Awards[edit]

  • Winner of 2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year for the Northern California region.[14]
  • Named to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal's "40 Under 40" list.[15]

Personal life[edit]

Housser lives with his family in Northern California. He is married to Lara Bridges Housser and is the father of three children.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Rigoglioso, Marguerite (November 2007). "Renegotiating Debt: One Consumer at a Time". Stanford Business Magazine. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  2. ^ "2002 Arjay Miller Scholars". Stanford.edu. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  3. ^ "Bigsight Andrew Housser". BigSight.org. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  4. ^ "Bloomberg People – Freedom Financial". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "Entrepreneur Profile San Francisco Business Times". San Francisco Business Times. August 19, 2007. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  6. ^ "TASC Becomes American Fair Credit Council (AFCC)". PR Web. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  7. ^ "TASC Website". TASCsite.org. Archived from the original on July 7, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
  8. ^ "Line of Business". Archived from the original on September 22, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
  9. ^ "Entrepreneur magazine". Archived from the original on August 24, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
  10. ^ Brustein, Joshua (December 11, 2013). "Banks Aren't Lending Enough. Can Startups Do Better?". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
  11. ^ "Stone Point | Companies". www.stonepoint.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  12. ^ "Freedom Financial Network". Freedom Financial Network. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  13. ^ "Freedom Financial Network Hits Record $15 Billion in Debt Negotiated for Customers". Freedom Debt Relief. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  14. ^ "Award recipients for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 Award in Northern California announced" (Press release). Ernst & Young LLP. June 23, 2008. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  15. ^ "Dynamic Duo". Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. May 16, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2009.

Talks[edit]