Andrew M. Murstein

Andrew M. Murstein
Murstein in 2007
Born	Andrew Mead Murstein[1] (1964-06-29) June 29, 1964 (age 57) Roslyn, New York
Alma mater	Tufts University, New York University, M.B.A.
Occupation	President and board member, Medallion Financial Corp.
Children	Kimberly Murstein and Matt Murstein[2]

Andrew Mead Murstein (born June 29, 1964) is founder, president, board member and largest shareholder of Medallion Financial Corp., an investment company publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol MFIN (changed from TAXI on May 11, 2016).^[3][4] MFIN and its predecessor companies have invested over $9,000,000,000 in various companies throughout the U.S. He received a B.A. in economics, cum laude, from Tufts University and an M.B.A. in finance from New York University.^[5][6] He was named among Crain's New York Business' "40 Under 40", and has been featured in numerous business publications.^[7][8] In 2013, he was appointed to the Board of the Javits Center.

Early life and career[]

Andrew Mead Murstein was born in Roslyn, New York to Alvin and Aileen Murstein.^[8] His grandfather of German descent, Leon Murstein, came to the United States from Argentina,^[9] became a New York cabdriver and purchased one of the first New York taxi medallions, issued in 1937, for $10.^[10][11][12] The family went on to purchase several hundred medallions for prices as little as $10 each—medallions peaked at over $1,300,000 each and currently^[when?] sell for around $85,000 each.^{[13][14][15][16]}

In the 1970’s, Alvin Murstein founded Medallion Funding Corp. to build a taxi medallion lending business. Medallion Funding earned returns on investment over 20 percent per year.^[17] The price of NY City medallions peaked in 2013, as the emergence of ride-hailing companies caused the first significant and sustained decline in medallion values. In order to navigate this challenge, Murstein reduced medallion lending, expanded consumer lending and restructured existing medallion loans. To better communicate the more diversified lending strategy, a stock symbol change was made from "TAXI" to "MFIN" on May 10, 2016 ^[18] A decision was also made to eliminate the dividend and convert to a C corp from a Business Development Company due to tax and capital considerations.^[19] After a steep decline, shares of MFIN began to rebound in the second half of 2017.^[20] As recently as December 12, 2017, 9% senior notes issued by Medallion Financial traded for over 100% of par value, which is a significant recovery from distressed levels reached earlier in 2017, and an indication of improved investor confidence. Medallion Financials stock price (NASDAQ: MFIN) has tripled in the last year.^{[when?] [21]}

On May 19, 2019, New York Times published an investigative report on how medallion lending practices effected a generation of taxi drivers, citing Murstein, among others, as moving the industry toward riskier lending practices.^[22]

Later life and career[]

Andrew Murstein, after completing his studies at Tufts University and New York University, spent several years on Wall Street, including a stop at Salomon Brothers, where he learned the power of equity in funding a business. He joined Medallion Funding full-time in 1990 and eventually took the company public.^[23]

In 1996, Murstein successfully launched Medallion Financial Corp., established to be the parent company of Medallion Funding, as a public company trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol MFIN.^[10][24] The company has financed the purchase of thousands more in Newark, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and New York City, is an established industry leader.^[8][25] But taxi loans are only a part of the story. The company also established or bought successful businesses that lend to a variety of small businesses such as dry cleaners, convenience stores, manufacturers, distributors, and later public companies.^[10][11][13]

In 1994, Murstein invested $1 million to create a subsidiary which sold advertising on the tops of taxis. The subsidiary, eventually named Medallion Taxi Media, was enhanced in 1996 with the acquisition of See Level Advertising. Murstein sold Medallion Taxi Media to Clear Channel yielding $35 million in 2004.^{[23][24][25][26]} About this time Medallion Financial Corp. set up its own bank, Medallion Bank, to fund many of the company's endeavors.^[27] On February 27, 2009, Medallion accepted an $11.8 million investment from the U.S. Treasury, a security which was repaid on July 21, 2011.^[28]

In 2008, Murstein with former baseball player Hank Aaron and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, both Medallion Financial board members, and former football star and Congressman Jack Kemp, now deceased, formed a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) which raised $230 million to buy a professional sports team. The SPAC reportedly bid for the Chicago Cubs and other sports properties but ended up not making a purchase because none of the properties the company evaluated had the right mix of profit potential and risk avoidance.^[29][30] Later that same year Murstein organized and filed publicly a SPAC focused on the security industry and assembled a board of directors that included former FBI director Louis Freeh and initial head of Homeland Security and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

On November 8, 2010, Medallion Financial Corp., as part of an investment group which includes Richard Petty signed and closed sale on racing assets of one of NASCAR's great names, Richard Petty Motorsports.^[31]

Medallion Sports Group[]

In 2012, along with partners Richard Mack and NFL player Jim Brown, Murstein acquired the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse, and renamed the team the New York Lizards. The team plays at Hofstra University on Long Island, and won the MLL championship for the third time in 2015.^[30]

In 2017, Murstein and his partner, NASCAR driver Richard Petty, announced the hiring of their new driver for the 43 car, Darrell "Bubba" Wallace, Jr., who became the first African-American driver to drive regularly in NASCAR's premier Cup Series in over 40 years.^[32][33]

References[]

External links[]

• Medallion Bank
• Medallion Financial Group