Mark Lewis is a Finance Partner at TechCXO and provides interim, fractional and part-time CFO services to companies of all sizes, particularly those in commercial real estate and land development.

During his distinguished career, Mark has built extensive experience structuring complex financial transactions, as well as sourcing debt and equity capital. Mark also provides in depth financial analysis and focused strategic plans. In addition, he has developed and managed exceptional finance, accounting, tax and IT teams throughout his 35-year career.

Senior management teams, Boards and investors call on Mark to engage in strategic planning and implementation, including financial and valuation analysis.  He is also called on to provide expertise beyond traditional CFO responsibilities, including overseeing sales and marketing, human resources, real estate project development and operations.

Mark is a strong communicator, who actively builds bridges and collaborates with varied stakeholders. His leadership approach is to ensure alignment and buy-in from team members, empowering them to execute successfully.

Mark’s career highlights include:

CFO and SVP, WestRock Land Development – WestRock Land and Development was established to enhance and monetize 800,000 acres in the Southeast. Mark hired and led an exceptional finance and accounting team while developing and implementing the strategic plan to develop commercial and residential real estate development projects representing in excess of 100,000 acres. Among key accomplishments, he closed a complex $1.5 billion transaction, selling 500,000 acres of timber land and minerals and forming a joint venture with an institutional capital partner for the retained development assets. Most recently, he was appointed to lead the wind down of the business including disposition of the remaining real estate portfolio.

CFO and SVP, Paramount Group – Paramount is one of Germany’s largest and most respected investors in U.S. real estate, a fully integrated asset and property management company with an office portfolio exceeding ten million square feet. He also negotiated and closed approximately $2.9 billion in financings. He also led acquisition and disposition activities totaling $3.8 billion. Additionally, he structured and closed joint ventures and two real estate investment funds totaling $1.3 billion.

CFO and COO, Cortland Partners – Mark served as a senior executive for this privately-held, multifamily developer concentrated in Southeast. He led efforts to secure equity and debt capital for new projects.

CFO and VP, Sivica Investments – Sivica is a diversified real estate development company engaged in residential development, home building and hospitality. Among his contributions, Mark restructured accounting and finance functions and formulated a strategic capital plan to fund future growth.

Mark received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Georgia.

Mark reported directly to me following the merger of MWV and Rock-Tenn and formation of WestRock. As CFO of the WestRock Land and Development, he quickly earned my trust due to the quality of his analysis and reporting. Mark’s understanding of the business and his ability to connect key strategic decisions to the financial outlook and performance of the business was outstanding.

After the merger, WestRock made the portfolio decision to exit the Land and Development business. Mark was asked to lead this effort to monetize this large, diverse portfolio of commercial, industrial and residential real estate holdings. He successfully developed and executed a strategy to sell these properties and maximize value. This required the negotiation of numerous complex transactions and the wind-down of our operations that included 100 team members. Mark’s integrity, professionalism and leadership earned the respect and loyalty of his team. His commercial skills and his focus on execution ensured that we achieved our financial goals and timeline. Mark’s leadership drove our success.

– Ward Dickson, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, WestRock

Initially, I had the pleasure of working with Mark when he represented MeadWestvaco in the negotiation and structuring of a large and complex land joint venture. From the beginning, Mark was a trusted partner who acted with urgency, fairness and competence. Following the establishment of the joint venture, Mark was instrumental in developing and implementing our annual business plans. What was remarkable is that mid-way through the venture, MeadWestvaco merged with Rock Tenn and became WestRock, and yet Mark’s steady stewardship continued. Even through transition, it was Mark’s thorough financial analysis and thoughtful decision making which were critical to our successfully achieving our objectives and winding down the joint venture as originally planned. I truly respect Mark’s integrity and transparency and would be honored to work with him again.

– Jim Kilberg, Senior Vice President, Real Estate, Energy and Natural Resources, Weyerhaeuser