About

Having previously been an associate, and then a partner, at Rogers & Wells, which merged into Clifford Chance, working primarily on M&A and private fund formation, Ronald M. Sanders, joined Colony NorthStar in 2004, and is currently executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. Under Sanders’ leadership the company has achieved many major transactions and highlights including the Colony Financial IPO, the creation of Colony American Homes, and winning an arbitration involving a claim of employer withdrawal liability. Highlighting these accomplishments Sanders says: ‘These are the types of matters which I had not previously worked on, so there was a steep learning curve and in some cases provided an opportunity to be quite creative. When given advice on how to handle an issue I felt I had more leeway to question why certain items were handled in a particular manner since I was not burdened with having done it before’. These led to other important accomplishments. For example, the Colony Financial IPO resulted in an internalisation transaction where a private fund manager was contracted to the public company which itself led to the three party merger with NorthStar Asset Management and NorthStar Realty Finance. Sanders continues: ‘These transactions have helped teach me that it is not my job to know the answer to every issue or question. It is my job to have an understanding of the issues, work with those who have the right skill set to address those issues, and working together try to find the best answers and solutions. In many cases who you know is as important as what you know. Also, questioning advice and asking if there is another way to do things oftentimes leads to a better result. It is good to trust your instincts’.