Our Team

John MazarakisExecutive Chairman

Mazarakis is a Partner at Chicago Atlantic and has served as our Executive Chairman since inception. Over the last two decades, he has launched successful companies in real estate, retail, hospitality, and food logistics compounding an initial investment of $50,000 to over $75mm in value over a period of approximately 25 years. He has built, owned, and operated 35+ restaurants with more than 1,200 employees. In addition, John has built a real estate portfolio of over 30 properties, developed over 1 million square feet of commercial real estate, and completed multiple real estate financing transactions. John bought a small distribution company with $12mm in annual sales and grew it to over $90mm in less than two years. He has invested in and served as an advisor to multiple successful startups.

MBA, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
BA (Economics), The University of Delaware

Recent Observations
Medical Cannabis in the United States

Tony CappellCo-Chief Executive Officer

Tony Cappell is a Partner at Chicago Atlantic and Co-CEO of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. (Nasdaq:REFI). As a debt investor with over 15 years of experience in the specialty finance space, Tony has completed over 150 deals comprising over $5B in total credit. Prior to founding Chicago Atlantic, Tony was a Managing Director and Head of Underwriting at Stonegate Capital, a private credit investment firm focused on lower middle market businesses and emerging brands. At Stonegate, he was responsible for credit, underwriting and the growth strategy of the loan portfolio. Previously, he was a Senior Underwriter at First Midwest Bank and at Gibraltar Business Capital where he worked on a number of specialty finance transactions including technology, software, turnaround/distressed and re-discount loans. He began his career at Wells Fargo Capital Finance focused on a wide array of industries and loan structures.

MBA, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
BA, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Recent Observations

Peter SackCo-Chief Executive Officer

Peter is a Managing Partner at Chicago Atlantic and serves as Co-CEO of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc., Peter is a credit investor and portfolio manager with experience investing across the capital structure.

Prior to joining Chicago Atlantic, Peter was a Principal at BC Partners Credit, where he sourced and underwrote across the firm’s opportunistic and senior lending strategies in a wide array of industries. Peter managed the portfolio of BC Partners Lending Corporation, a private business development company with assets of over $100 million deployed in middle-market private loans. Peter also founded the firm’s cannabis vertical and has underwritten over half a billion dollars in related transactions.

Previously, Peter was an Associate at Atlas Holdings LLC, a private-equity firm focused on supporting distressed manufacturing and distribution companies globally.

Peter serves on the board of directors of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc., Ability Insurance Company, and the New York City Charter School of the Arts.

Peter speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

MBA, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
BA, Yale University
Fulbright Scholar, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Province, China

David KiteChief Operating Officer

David has served as Chicago Atlantic’s Chief Operating Officer since July 2021 and has over 20 years of experience in investment management and real estate investments.

David began his career as a commodities trader with Commodities Corp where legendary traders Paul Tudor Jones, Bruce Kovner and Louis Bacon launched their careers. Soon after, David founded K&K Capital Management, where he created a proprietary trading strategy which at its peak managed in excess of $250 million.

In 2013, David transitioned to real estate as Partner and COO of Free Market Ventures a boutique private equity real estate company where he developed over 200 multifamily units, built over 100k SF of cannabis cultivation warehouses, acquired and managed over 250k SF of office space, purchased in excess of $25 million in distressed debt and receiver liens and oversaw all aspects of the company including deal structure, capital raising, debt financing, due diligence, acquisitions, asset management and dispositions.

MBA, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
BA (Economics), University of Illinois

Phil SilvermanChief Financial Officer

Phil serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ: REFI). Phil is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and brings over 10 years of finance and accounting experience to Chicago Atlantic with a focus on financial reporting, operations, and internal controls for investment management firms ranging from $100 million to over a $1 billion in assets under management.

From June 2021 to September 2022, prior to his appointment as the Interim Chief Financial Officer of REFI, Phil served as the Vice President and Assistant Controller for the firm’s private credit funds, and Chief Financial Officer of Chicago Atlantic Group, LLC. Prior to joining Chicago Atlantic, Phil spent nearly 9 years with BDO USA, LLP, where he most recently served as a Senior Manager in the Financial Services and Private Equity group, responsible for end-to-end execution of audits of private equity and venture capital funds, small business investment companies, business development companies and other asset managers.

BS (Finance), Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Andreas BodmeierPresident

Andreas Bodmeier is a Partner of Chicago Atlantic and serves as the President of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. (Nasdaq:REFI). Andreas has been working at the intersection of finance and analytics for over 15 years. Prior to Chicago Atlantic, Andreas co-founded a boutique technology and consulting firm focused on FX and commodity risk management for multi-national corporations as well as advising on capital structure decisions and investor relations. He was also a co-founder of an SEC-registered online investment adviser for 401(k) or 403(b) retirement accounts. Andreas has also served as a consultant for hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, commercial and consumer lenders, and pharmaceutical companies. His academic research at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business focused on capital market anomalies, portfolio allocation, and risk management.

Ph.D. (Finance) and MBA, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
MSc (Statistics), Humboldt University Berlin, Germany
BSc (Mathematics), Freie University Berlin, Germany
BSc (Physics), Freie University Berlin, Germany
BSc (Business Economics), University of Hagen, Germany

Recent Observations
Tax Benefits for International Investors: The Portfolio Interest Exemption

Brett ClaytonController

Brett serves as the Controller of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NASDAQ: REFI).

Brett brings over 7 years of credit-focused asset management experience to Chicago Atlantic. Before joining Chicago Atlantic, Brett worked as Manager at H.I.G. Capital where she focused on reporting for private credit investment vehicles. Prior to that she was a Controller at a publicly traded business development company (“BDC”) within the credit platform at BC Partners. Brett spent the first 6 years of her career at Citigroup, within SEC Reporting and at Grant Thornton, within the Financial Services Audit practice. Brett holds the CPA designation.

BS and MS (Accounting), University of Texas at Austin