• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Techsocial finance

SoFi is One Quirky Lender, But It’s Working

By
Adam Lashinsky
Adam Lashinsky
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Adam Lashinsky
Adam Lashinsky
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 12, 2017, 8:59 AM ET
Unicorn 2016 Michael Cagney SoFi
Photograph by Elena Graham
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

“Fintech” companies have been in the dumps lately, as Mike Cagney, CEO of a lender called Social Finance, or SoFi, is the first to tell you. Cagney is quick to add that his company is the king of these midgets, an innovative operator in a staid industry that is a making a go of things.

I visited Cagney Thursday at his office in San Francisco’s historic Presidio. An avid cyclist, Cagney was dressed in jeans and a SoFi t-shirt and already was wolfing down a pizza when I arrived. (His office kindly had a delicious beef enchilada waiting for me.) I’d been curious to meet Cagney precisely because it’s a startup that hasn’t seemed to miss a beat.

Cagney started the company in 2010, midway through a Stanford fellowship he did as a way to clear his head from a career in banking and hedge funding. His epiphany was that students with great earnings potential paid the same high rates on their school loans as everyone else. He’d use math—now it’s called data science—to recalibrate risk and offer those students a lower rate. And he’d acquire customers by building a sense of community among like-minded borrowers.

Fast-forward seven years and SoFi is on fire, the rare example of a startup that hasn’t seemed to flounder after advertising during the Super Bowl. Building on its initial student loans business, SoFi now offers mortgages, personal loans and wealth management. It’s not a bank, and Cagney wants to keep it way—despite having taken steps to accept deposits as a broker-dealer. Banks move too slowly, he says.

SoFi is one quirky lender. It literally plays matchmaker, as in offering a dating service to “members,” or borrowers, in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It also holds networking events in 60 cities, a pure marketing expense it highlights as a way for customers to get ahead in their careers. (A note on the dating service: Cagney learned by hosting some events himself that attendees care about precisely two things in a potential spouse, their FICO credit worthiness scores and their income.)

Whatever SoFi is doing is working. Cagney says the company originated $8 billion in loans last year, a figure that will double this year. He reckons the company will earn $200 million on a pre-tax basis in 2017 on revenues of $650 million.

Now that I think of it, “fintech” is one of those dumb terms like “cleantech.” All good businesses apply technology to be better. Social Finance is building a new kind of lender using some clever technological and human techniques. And it even facilitates love connections. Who could ask for more?

Adam Lashinsky
@adamlashinsky
adam_lashinsky@fortune.com
About the Author
By Adam Lashinsky
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

EU says TikTok failed to shield minors’ accounts from adults, exposing kids to predators
CybersecurityTikTok
EU says TikTok failed to shield minors’ accounts from adults, exposing kids to predators
By Sam McNeil and The Associated PressJuly 24, 2026
3 hours ago
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping shaking hands
PoliticsChina
China adds 14 European firms to export control list in tit-for-tat over EU’s Russia sanctions
By The Associated PressJuly 24, 2026
4 hours ago
t
EnergyWhite House
Trump promises cheaper power from data centers. Analysts say bills could jump 40%
By Josh Boak, Matthew Daly and The Associated PressJuly 24, 2026
5 hours ago
sk
LawSouth Korea
South Korea’s ‘divorce of the century’ results in order for SK chair to pay ex-wife $640 million
By The Associated PressJuly 24, 2026
6 hours ago
brockman speaks on stage
AIOpenAI
OpenAI President says rogue AI attack on Hugging Face ‘is indicative of the times we are in’ as the company continues to investigate incident
By Emily ForliniJuly 24, 2026
6 hours ago
craig
CommentaryPharmaceutical Industry
Big pharma’s patent cliff meets a new biotech Cold War: We need to outrun China, not outlaw it
By Craig GarthwaiteJuly 24, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
11 hours ago
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
Personal Finance
Spain lifted the World Cup, but the IRS still gets a cut of its $50 million pay day as players, coaches and refs all face complex U.S. “jock taxes”
By Joshua HongJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.