William J. Mayer, a senior finance industry executive responsible for generating billions of dollars in growth during his 33 years at Wells Fargo and GE Capital, joined Tiger Group as executive managing director. He will focus on business development for the asset-valuation, disposition and finance firm.
“Bill brings tremendous business acumen and experience to our executive team,” Michael McGrail, group COO for Tiger Group, said. “He has built, led, revamped and/or sold an extraordinary array of corporate and consumer finance entities over the course of his career, refining his expertise in strategic planning, M&A, asset-based finance, loan workouts, regulatory compliance, turnaround management and more. We’re thrilled to welcome him to Tiger Group.”
“I’ve had a close relationship with Michael McGrail and Tiger’s senior leadership team for over 20 years and have seen firsthand Tiger’s ability to craft creative solutions to complex business problems for companies in all stages of their lifecycle,” Mayer said. “I am very excited to join a business which has the proven track record and capabilities to assist companies’ management, owners, lenders and their professionals in these tumultuous economic times.”
Mayer joined Tiger after almost two decades at Wells Fargo entities in Boston, where his roles included president and COO of Wells Fargo Retail Finance (2002-2009), president of the commercial and retail finance group at Wells Fargo Capital Finance (2009-2011) and senior credit officer and executive vice president of Wells Fargo Wholesale Bank (2011-2015).
Most recently, Mayer was group head and executive vice president of Wells Fargo Equipment Finance. In that seven-year role, he spearheaded growth both organically and through acquisition of the specialized equipment lending and leasing businesses. Last year, his accomplishments included taking the helm of the unit’s Wells Fargo Commercial Auto business.
Mayer also previously led Wells Fargo’s acquisition and integration of three GE North American businesses: Capital Direct Leasing, GE Rail and GE Capital Vendor Financial Services. In May 2021, he directed the sale of GE’s legacy leasing business in Canada to TD Bank.
His additional accomplishments at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance included overseeing due diligence, risk management and regulatory compliance for a variety of entities, including a transportation center of excellence that he created for due diligence and compliance monitoring of Wells Fargo assets such as trucks, trains, ships, trailers and aircraft.
Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2002, Mayer spent 13 years at GE Capital. His initial responsibilities included heading a team of investment analysts in the field and then, as a London-based senior vice president, overseeing risk management and business development in Europe for GE Capital Commercial Finance.
Mayer went on to serve as chief credit officer of the southern region for GE Capital Retailer Financial Services, working with the likes of Home Depot and Lowe’s, and as senior vice president of GE Capital Commercial Finance’s national healthcare practice. In this latter role, Mayer took charge of business development efforts. Mayer ultimately rose to managing director of the firm’s Chicago-based commercial finance group, leading a region comprised of 13 Midwest states and all of Canada. Under Mayer’s leadership, the region’s commitments more than doubled in less than two years.
Mayer started his career in 1985 as an auditor for Peat Marwick International, which merged with Klynveld Main Goerdeler two years later to form the KPMG network. He had interned for Peat Marwick while earning his accounting degree at Penn State.
A native of Philadelphia, Mayer is a member of the Secured Finance Network, the Turnaround Management Association, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
