J.G.

Wentworth
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The J.G. Wentworth Company

Industry Finance

Founded 1991; 30 years ago

Headquarters Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Area served United States

Key people Randi Sellari (CEO, Specialty Finance)[1]

Dwight Perry (CFO)[2]
Randy Parker (COO)[2]

Services Debt Relief, Payment Purchasing: Structured

Settlements  · Annuities  · Lottery and Casino
Winnings  · Lawsuit Advance

Website www.jgwentworth.com 

The J.G. Wentworth Company is a financial services company that

purchases structured settlements, annuities, and lottery payments. They also offer debt
relief services.[3]
In the United States, the company is known for its television advertisements featuring
"Mr. Wentworth",[4] but more recent commercials have included Wagnerian opera
singers.[5]

Contents

 1History
 2Commercials and awards
 3J.G. Wentworth brands and subsidiaries
 4References
 5External links

History[edit]
J.G. Wentworth was founded in 1991 as a merchant bank specializing in transactions in
the healthcare industry.[6][7] In 1992, the company began to purchase New Jersey auto
insurance deferrals from claimants who could not afford to wait twelve to eighteen
months for their settlements.[8]
Prior to 1999 there was no regulation for structured settlements in the state of New
York. Eliot Spitzer entered into a contract with J.G. Wentworth to help protect New
Yorkers from selling their settlements at exorbitant rates. The agreement stipulated that
J.G. Wentworth could receive a rate of no more than twenty-five percent of the
annual discount rate of annuities it had purchased from citizens of the state of New
York.[9] At the time, a JGW executive told the New York Times that the firm sought the
agreement because of the rate at which its business had grown. [10]
In May 2009, following the financial crisis, J.G. Wentworth's parent company, JGW
Holdco LLC, entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company cited
"liquidity problems amid a tightening credit market" as the catalyst for filing. [11] In June
2009, JGW Holdco LLC received one hundred million dollars in equity from primary
stakeholder JLL Partners, which allowed the company and its subsidiaries to emerge
from bankruptcy.[12]
In 2011, J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Financial Solutions, which also purchased
structured settlement, annuity, and lottery payments, formed a new holding company,
JGWPT Holdings LLC. The two companies continued to operate independently after the
transition.[13]
In October 2013, the firm filed for an initial public offering,[6][7] which was offered the
subsequent month. The company was initially listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol JGWE.[14]
In 2015, J.G. Wentworth expanded their financial offerings with the purchase of
WestStar Mortgage for forty-four million dollars in common shares and cash. [15] In the
same year, the company announced a partnership with Visa to offer a prepaid card to
customers.[16]
In June 2016, J.G. Wentworth was delisted from the NYSE for failing to satisfy the
continued listing rule.[17] Later that month, the company began trading on the OTC
Markets Group under the symbol JGWE.[18]
On November 8, 2017, J.G. Wentworth filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second
time in nine years.[19] JGWE stock plummeted as much as eighty-seven percent on 10
November 2017. The company was expected to emerge from bankruptcy in or around
January 2018 after coming to an agreement with lenders prior to filing. [20][21]