Executive Management

Richard J. Byrne has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of FBRT since September 2016. Mr. Byrne is also the President of Benefit Street Partners and is based in our New York office. Mr. Byrne has served as the President of the Advisor since 2013. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President of Franklin BSP Lending Corp. since 2016, and Franklin BSP Capital Corp. since 2020, which are affiliated non-traded business development companies regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940 that are managed by the Advisor.

Prior to joining BSP in 2013, Mr. Byrne was chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. He was also the global head of capital markets at Deutsche Bank as well as a member of their global banking executive committee and global markets executive committee.

Before joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Byrne was global co-head of the leveraged finance group and global head of credit research at Merrill Lynch. He was also a perennially top-ranked credit analyst.

Mr. Byrne earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Binghamton University. Mr. Byrne is a member of the board of directors of Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN), and New York Road Runners. He is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KASAI Elite Grappling Championships.

Michael Comparato serves as President of FBRT. He is also a managing director with Benefit Street Partners and the head of commercial real estate for BSP. Prior to joining BSP in 2015, Mr. Comparato was head of U.S. Equity Investments at Ladder Capital, where he led Ladder’s largest team that actively originated CMBS loans, structured/balance sheet loans, mezzanine loans and acquired strategic assets for the firm. Prior to joining Ladder, Mr. Comparato was president of BankAtlantic Commercial Mortgage Capital (BACMC), the CMBS affiliate of BankAtlantic, where he was responsible for managing all day-to-day operations. Mr. Comparato also previously ran Compson Holding Corporation, which made various equity investments in multiple different commercial real estate assets and publicly traded REITs. Mr. Comparato received a Bachelor of Science, Summa Cum Laude, from Babson College.

Jerry Baglien is a managing director and chief financial officer & chief operating officer who functions as a portfolio manager of real estate, based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2016, Mr. Baglien was director of fund finance for GTIS Partners LP, where he oversaw all finance and operations for GTIS funds. Previously, he was an accounting manager at iStar Inc. with oversight of loans and special investments. Mr. Baglien received a Master of Business Administration from Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Oregon.

Matt Jacobs is a managing director and the chief credit officer for BSP CRE, based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2016, Mr. Jacobs was co-head of underwriting at Ladder Capital, where he led a team of professionals in the underwriting of CMBS loans, structured / balance sheet loans, mezzanine loans and equity investments. Prior to joining Ladder, Mr. Jacobs worked in Deloitte’s Financial Advisory Services practice, where he provided valuation services to various real estate lenders and investors. Additionally, Mr. Jacobs previously worked at UBS Real Estate Securities, focusing on the underwriting of various CRE loans. Mr. Jacobs received a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis.

Tanya Mollova is a managing director with Benefit Street Partners and is based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2015, Ms. Mollova was an executive director at CIBC in the commercial real estate group, where she focused on CMBS underwriting. Prior to joining CIBC, Ms. Mollova headed underwriting for Contemporary Healthcare Capital, where she closed mezzanine and preferred equity transactions with concentration on senior housing and healthcare. Previously, Ms. Mollova worked as a structured finance associate director in the CMBS group at Fitch Ratings. Ms. Mollova received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Lawrence University.

Micah Goodman is a managing director and general counsel of Benefit Street Partners’ commercial real estate business. He is also general counsel and corporate secretary of Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust, Inc. Prior to joining BSP in 2014, Mr. Goodman was an executive director in the transaction management group at Ladder Capital Finance, where his team was responsible for structuring, negotiating and closing commercial real estate loans. Prior to joining Ladder Capital, Mr. Goodman was a vice president at Credit Suisse and at JP Morgan Chase in their real estate capital markets groups. Previously, Mr. Goodman was a real estate and finance attorney at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP. Mr. Goodman received a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College.

David Henschke is a managing director and the head of capital markets for Benefit Street Partners CRE and is based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2021, Mr. Henschke was a managing director and co-head of securitization at Ladder Capital where he was responsible for the execution of loans into CMBS transactions and CLO financings. Prior to joining Ladder Capital, Mr. Henschke served as a Director at Standard & Poor’s and was responsible for rating new issue CMBS transactions, surveilling existing ratings and was a member of the criteria committee. Mr. Henschke received a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and is a CFA® Charterholder.