Russell Devendorf

Russell Devendorf, CPA, CTP is a highly accomplished executive who has held senior level positions in the single-family real estate and services industries for almost 25 years. He has a proven track record of leading companies and teams through high-growth and restructuring situations. Devendorf has significant experience in capital markets, including initial public equity offerings and public debt offerings, bankruptcy restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations and SEC reporting. He currently serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Smith Douglas Homes, a top 40 U.S. homebuilder ($750M+ revenue) based in Atlanta that is in process of pursuing a $150 million IPO on the NYSE. He oversees all back-office functions including finance, accounting, IT, legal, risk management and human resources, as well as Ridgeland Title, its joint venture title agency. Additionally, Devendorf serves as a senior advisor for Whelan Advisory, LLC, the leading boutique investment bank focused on the single-family real estate industry.

Prior to joining Smith Douglas, Devendorf was senior vice president and chief financial officer of WCI Communities (NYSE: WCIC), a Florida-based homebuilder, from 2008 until its sale to Lennar (NYSE: LEN) in 2017. Originally hired by the Carl Icahn-led board of directors upon entering bankruptcy, Devendorf was an integral leader in the storied turnaround of this large, national homebuilder through its reorganization, IPO and $900 million sale of the company. He led the finance, accounting, IT, investor relations and risk management departments and worked closely with the company’s largest shareholders and Board of Directors, routinely leading the quarterly audit committee meetings and actively participating in all board meetings. In addition, Devendorf provided corporate oversight of the company’s mortgage operations and real estate brokerage business with over 40 offices and 1,800 agents throughout Florida. Prior to WCI, Devendorf was the corporate vice president of finance for top 10 national homebuilder Meritage Homes (NYSE: MTH), heading up their Land Investment Committee, and before that, he spent six years with top 15 national homebuilder TOUSA Homes (NYSE: TOA) in several executive finance roles, most recently as its vice president, treasurer and corporate secretary. He also sat on the board of Preferred Home Mortgage, TOUSA’s mortgage joint venture with Wells Fargo. Devendorf is a financial expert who started his career with Ernst & Young in 1996, having spent four years as a senior auditor in its real estate practice.

Devendorf lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University with both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in accounting. He is a certified public accountant with an active license in Florida since 1997 and is also a certified treasury professional (inactive) since 2003. Devendorf was honored by Treasury & Risk Magazine in “The 2006 40 Under 40” and recognized by the Association of Finance Professionals (AFP) in 2007 as one of the top finance professionals in treasury and corporate finance. He has been a guest speaker to MBA programs at Florida universities, led the 2016 Ernst & Young CFO roundtable discussion of leading public and private homebuilders and has regularly participated on several homebuilding conference panels during his career.