# Ryan Williams

> Ryan A. Williams is an American entrepreneur and investor who co-founded the commercial real estate investment platform Cadre in 2014 and led it as CEO when Yieldstreet completed its acquisition in January 2024. Raised in Baton Rouge and educated at Harvard, he previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Blackstone. He is now founder and CEO of Ellis, an operations platform for private credit managers, carrying forward his interest in widening access to private markets and the infrastructure behind them.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Ellis
- **Organizations:** Ellis, Cadre, Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Veritas Financial Group
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** A.B. in Economics, Harvard College
- **Known for:** Co-founded Cadre and led it through its January 2024 acquisition by Yieldstreet., Built a commercial real estate investment platform with a digital secondary marketplace for existing stakes., Featured on the February 2019 Forbes FinTech 50 cover.

## Career timeline

- **Age 13** — Started selling personalized sports headbands and wristbands.
- **2008-2009** — While at Harvard, began investing with classmates in foreclosed Atlanta homes; later launched a single-family real estate fund.
- **2010** — Graduated from Harvard and began working in Goldman Sachs investment banking.
- **2012** — Joined Blackstone in real estate private equity.
- **2014** — Co-founded Cadre with Joshua Kushner and Jared Kushner.
- **2022-06** — Moved into the executive chairman role and appointed Jared Kaplan CEO.
- **2024-01** — Was serving as Cadre CEO when Yieldstreet completed the acquisition on January 23; also became global head of institutional partnerships and clients.
- **2025** — Founded Ellis, focusing on operating infrastructure for private credit managers.
- **2026-07** — Ellis emerged publicly with more than $10 million in seed funding led by First Round Capital.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Cadre and led it through its January 2024 acquisition by Yieldstreet.
- Built a commercial real estate investment platform with a digital secondary marketplace for existing stakes.
- Featured on the February 2019 Forbes FinTech 50 cover.
- Named to Fortune’s 2019 40 Under 40.
- Founded Harvard’s Veritas Financial Group.
- Raised more than $10 million in seed financing for Ellis, announced publicly in 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Appeared in an Owner Mode conversation published September 14 about his early real estate investments, trust and private markets.
- **2026-08** — Discussed Ellis and its private credit operations platform in an August 11 AfroTech interview.
- **2026-07** — Ellis publicly emerged with more than $10 million in seed funding led by First Round Capital.
- **2025-02** — Discussed Cadre’s sale and his network of mentors on Masters of Scale.

## Links

- Website: https://www.ellis.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanawilliams1/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/RyanAWms

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ryan-williams
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-27