Overview

Being born into the crisis of the pre World War II taught billionaire Roland Arnall how to make his mark in the property business.

From a flower peddler in the streets of Los Angeles he soon graduated into a real estate entrepreneur with his mortgage lending company Ameriquest selling mortgages almost forcefully to homeowners failing to obtain bank loans in the traditional way.

His self-made fortune worth $1.5 billion was also largely the fruit of his investments in finance stakes in concerns such as Dutch brewer Heineken, oil conglomerate Royal Dutch Shell and Anglo-Dutch food retailer Unilever.

Business/Career
 
Roland Arnall came into his own as an entrepreneur after his family moved from Montreal to California in the late 1970s.

His company Ameriquest employed an aggressive mortgage selling strategy towards ordinary people unable to get common bank loans.

His real estate business kept undergoing an upturn until this year’s financial meltdown. He also faced troubles due to rising interest, default rates hammering profits.

This year in January he has been forced to compensate 49 states with an amount of $325 million for settling predatory-lending charges.

This has been a major financial crisis for real estate tycoon Roland Arnall and since 2006, he has been under pressure to close down 230 retail offices, fire 3,800 employees and finally sell out the very company for to Citigroup this year in September.