Michael O’Callaghan is the founder of Finback Real Estate (“Finback”), a boutique real estate advisory firm.
Michael recently served as a Senior Managing Director at Savills-Studley (“Savills”), where he oversaw the development and continued expansion of the firm’s US Capital Markets platform and Cross Border Investment teams. At Savills, he specialized in the recapitalization of large institutional assets and portfolios on behalf of US-based owners/operators. He represented a myriad of foreign institutional investors from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia as a buy-side advisor for investments in US assets.
Michael served as a member of the senior management team Rubenstein Partners, a private equity real estate fund manager (“Rubenstein”). At Rubenstein, he was responsible for sourcing and executing value-added office investments in Eastern US markets. Michael spearheaded the firm’s efforts to identify best-in-class local real estate operating companies and lead business development efforts. During his tenure at Rubenstein, Michael sourced millions of square feet of proprietary and off-market investment opportunities, negotiated and structured joint venture partnerships, sourced brokerage and banking relationships and evaluated hundreds of assets.
Michael served as a senior officer and member of the Management Committee for publicly traded transportation company, Carey International, Inc. While at Carey, he managed and directed the firm’s industry consolidation efforts and managed the firm’s legal affairs as General Counsel. Michael oversaw the acquisition of approximately 20 companies in less than three years.
Michael co-founded and served as CEO of Union, a full-service advertising agency located in New York City. At Union, he oversaw the day to day management of the firm as well as the development of strategic brand positioning and advertising and marketing campaigns for national and international clients.
Upon graduating law school, he entered into public service and served as a Staff Attorney for the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, where he conducted investigations of violations of federal securities laws. Michael was subsequently appointed Associate Special Counsel to the United States Senate’s Special Committee Investigating Whitewater Development Corporation and Other Related Matters, where he managed and conducted various investigations and co-authored the Committee’s final report.
Michael began his career as a Senior Research Analyst for a Presidential Campaign in 1987, where he served as a principal on the campaign’s debate preparation team, and co-authored the campaign’s standard briefing book provided to select campaign surrogate speakers, including: members of the House and Senate; Governors; the Cabinet and other senior government officials.
Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University in Political Science and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law. He is a full member of the Urban Land Institute and serves a Vice Chair of the Urban Development Mixed Use Council Blue.