Kaz Nejatian, chief operating officer of online shopping platform Shopify, has been named the new CEO and a board member of iBuyer Opendoor, the company announced on Wednesday.
Nejatian has a background as a lawyer, and most recently worked to build teams and products at Shopify since joining the ecommerce company in 2019.
As an “AI-native executive,” and given his track record of building teams, products and companies at scale, Opendoor said Nejatian was the obvious choice for the company’s next CEO.
“Literally there was only one choice for the job: Kaz. I am thrilled that he will be serving as CEO of Opendoor,” Opendoor co-founder and chairman Keith Rabois said in a statement. “He is a decisive leader who has driven product innovation at scale, ruthlessly reduced G&A expenses to drive profitability and deeply understands the potential for AI to radically reshape a company’s entire operations. He is a proven executive with a founder’s brain. He is the right leader to unlock Opendoor’s unique data and assets as we build on Opendoor’s original mission, now enhanced as an AI-first company. The future of home buying and selling is now in the chat.”
His appointment comes a little less than one month after now-former CEO Carrie Wheeler stepped down from her post amidst mounting pressure about the company’s shaky financial performance of late.
“It’s a privilege to become Opendoor’s leader,” Nejatian said in a statement. “Few life events are as important as buying or selling a home. With AI, we have the tools to make that experience radically simpler, faster, and more certain. That’s the future we’re building.”
Opendoor also said in the same announcement that Rabois and his Opendoor cofounder Eric Wu would be rejoining the Board of Directors with Rabois taking up the role of Chairman. Eric Feder will continue to serve as Lead Independent Director, and Pueo Keffer and Glenn Solomon have stepped down from the Board.
“Rabois and Wu, who co-founded Opendoor in 2013, will inject the ‘founder DNA’ and energy at a pivotal moment for Opendoor,” Feder said in a statement. “They are passionate about our community and we’re excited to welcome them back to the Board.”
Added Wu, “Opendoor’s mission is more relevant than ever. Homeowners deserve a better system, and with Kaz’s vision, mentality and creativity, I’m confident he can lead Opendoor’s next chapter and build a category-defining company.”
The last several months have been challenging ones for Opendoor, to say the least. The iBuyer struggled as many markets across the country largely shifted to favor homebuyers, with the company’s stock hitting a low point of $0.51 per share in mid-July. A stock rally and a flurry of trading shortly thereafter ultimately pushed share prices up past $3 per share, but was not enough to save Wheeler from the cutting block.
A prominent investor, Eric Jackson, started calling for Wheeler’s resignation on X and lobbied to get Rabois back on the board, touting the aforementioned “founder DNA” as a way to reinvigorate the floundering company. Jackson ultimately got Rabois on board his campaign to cut ties with Wheeler as well, and at one point, Rabois said that “anyone off the street would perform better” than Wheeler had as CEO.
In the wake of Wheeler’s departure, investors have also turned to the question of whether it is in Opendoor’s favor to continue to work with real estate agents — or if the company should instead try to compete with them. Rabois made his view clear on X, posting around the time of Wheeler’s resignation, “Kill agent partnership.”
The question may be a pivotal one for Nejatian as he takes up his new role as the embattled iBuyer’s CEO.
