Mark Zytko co-founded Mesa West Capital in 2004 and is its co-Chief Executive Officer. Mesa West is an institutional investment management firm based in Los Angeles with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. The firm specializes in commercial real estate credit investments and has provided over $25 billion of financing for commercial real estate projects nationwide since its inception. Mesa West raises the capital it invests by partnering with U.S. and international institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.

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Mark is the co-Chair of Mesa West’s investment and valuation committees. At Mesa West, Mark established the Mesa West Foundation to support a wide variety of causes important to the company’s employees. He has also helped lead the firm’s other charitable activities including its targeted summer internship program which provides opportunity for underserved college students interested in business and finance. From inception in 2004 until 2018, Mesa West was a privately held company owned by its management team. Beginning in 2018, Mesa West joined Morgan Stanley to continue to grow its brand and business and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, Inc.

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Prior to founding Mesa West, Mark spent five years with Credit Suisse First Boston as head of its West Coast commercial real estate finance office located in Los Angeles. Previous to Credit Suisse, Mark was a Vice President with GE Capital Real Estate. Previous to GE Capital, he was a Manager of mortgage lending with SunAmerica Investments in Los Angeles.

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Mark was born and raised in Chicago. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. He is a member of, and past Chairman of the Board of, the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, the largest industry group focused on engagement, education and political support for the commercial real estate finance industry. He is also a member of the Stanford Real Estate Council, the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Real Estate Advisory Board and the Urban Land Institute. Mark is a resident of Santa Monica, California where he lives with his wife, Nancy, and their twin boys who attend high school in Los Angeles. The Zytkos are active supporters of educational, children’s and animal causes including the Orthopedic Institute for Children at UCLA, Saint Matthew’s Church and School, Boy Scouts of America, Best Friends Animal Rescue and the Westside Food Bank of Los Angeles.