Ryan Williams (entrepreneur)

Ryan Williams is a technology entrepreneur best known as the CEO and founder of Cadre, a New York-based technology company. He was named to Fortune's "40 under 40" list for 2019, Forbes' "30 under 30" list for 2018, "Crain’s 40 under 40" list for 2017, is one of Commercial Observer’s "30 under 30" and has been profiled in Forbes, Ivy, and other publications. In February 2019 he was profiled and on the cover of Forbes Magazine in the "FinTech 50" issue; in 2022 he was a Business Insider "Top 100 Global Leaders Changing Business."

In 2021, he announced the launch of the Cadre Direct Access Fund, one of the largest real estate funds raised during the pandemic and for a digital real estate investment platform. He followed with the Cadre Direct Access Fund II, a value-add real estate fund.

In early 2023, he led Cadre to secure a spot on the Forbes Fintech 50 a seventh consecutive year. Later in 2023, he led the company to a liquidity event with its merger with YieldStreet, resulting in the company’s combined assets totaling $9.7 billion. He remains CEO of the company following the transaction.

Williams has raised and invested more than $1.2 billion in real estate investments throughout the country through his firm, Cadre. As one of few African American real estate technology founders and CEOs, he has often advocated for actionable change in his industry and society. Among other specific changes, he has advocated for increasing education about financial literacy as a key to closing America's racial wealth gap.