After 20 years as CEO of one of the largest real estate portals and brokerages in the nation, Glenn Kelman announced Tuesday he would step down from Redfin and leave real estate altogether.
The move comes months after Redfin was acquired by Rocket in an all-stock deal valued at $1.75 billion. Kelman, who over the years became known as the source of major breaking news from Redfin, announced the news in a LinkedIn post.
Kelman’s final day will be Friday. Rocket CEO Varun Krishna will take over as head of Redfin while the firm looks to replace Kelman. Kelman will remain available as an advisor through April 1, he wrote.
Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman onstage at Real Estate Connect San Francisco.
“Redfin just completed our first phase as a Rocket company, integration,” Kelman wrote. “We’ll start the second, much-longer phase at next week’s all-company meeting, which is much-greater scale. Approaching that, I had to decide whether to be at Rocket for years.”
Rocket’s acquisition of Redfin was among the most significant deals in a year filled with mergers and acquisitions in real estate.
In buying Redfin, Rocket took a major leap toward becoming a full-service national real estate company, offering a space for consumers to view homes, pair up with an agent, qualify for a mortgage and have their home loan serviced, all by one company.
As CEO, Kelman played a major role in transforming Redfin from a small start up and early adopter of the internet’s role in real estate searches to a major brokerage with agents in markets across the nation.
He positioned the company as a consumer-centric brokerage that had a stated goal of lowering the cost of homeownership and real estate transactions.
The work culminated in Redfin’s merger with Rocket in June.
Kelman exclusively spoke with Inman insiders about the sale the next month at Inman Connect San Diego.
During the interview with Inman founder Brad Inman, Kelman repeatedly pushed back on Inman for referring to him in the past tense, as though he had left the company.
“I plan on building Redfin at Rocket,” Kelman said at the time.
Brad Inman, left, and Glenn Kelman dance on the Inman Connect Las Vegas stage on Aug. 3. Credit: AJ Canaria
He said it was a difficult decision to agree to sell the company, but that he believed the pairing was a benefit to consumers.
“Rocket believes in technology, and Rocket believes in service,” Kelman said. “There aren’t many companies that believe in that dual commitment.”
Kelman is known as a gregarious executive who delivered colorful quotes to any audience, from reporters to Wall Street investors and more.
He told Inman he was at a rustic cabin in Maine with his twin brother when the deal with Rocket closed.
“The silk that you get on corn had got in the sink, and I got a hanger, then I got a plunger [to unclog it],” Kelman said. “My prosaic life has not changed. So I’m up at 1 in the morning clearing out this sink.”
Even in his farewell announcement, Kelman chose a headline that showed his sense of humor: “Unemployed, In Greenland,” a reference to an iconic line in the Rob Reiner cult classic Princess Bride.
What’s next for Kelman?
Kelman didn’t unveil his next move, but he made one thing clear: It will be outside of the real estate industry.
“I want to try finding another mission-driven enterprise outside of real estate,” Kelman wrote. “I’m grateful that Rocket has turned out to be such a good owner of Redfin, and that Varun has been such a kind leader.”
“Running so fast with people so smart made me feel free when I once viewed the business world as a prison,” Kelman wrote.
“The whole miracle of human ingenuity starts with the simple act of thinking for yourself, but that depends on finding people to whom you can say what you really think,” Kelman wrote. “I discovered those people while Redfin was still based out of an apartment, and that grew a thousandfold into our culture.”
In his farewell note, Kelman said he would remain friends with Krishna and anyone in the industry — whether or not he had met them.
“I haven’t deserved to work with so many good people for so long, and now I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to repay you for it,” he wrote. “Any one of you could show up at my door with a new baby or after a flat tire in the rain, or just to say hi. In my mind, you’ll say one word, REDFIN, and I’ll say COME ON IN.”
Industry insiders react
Kelman’s stature in the industry was reflected in the initial responses from other top leaders in real estate.
“Glenn was a persistent, never-give-up entrepreneur who turned heads in the industry and understood that it takes courage to tell the truth,” Brad Inman told Inman. “I love this man. He’s not done.”
Mike Simonsen, a chief economist at Compass, marked Kelman’s departure as “the end of an era.”
“Glenn, it’s been a real pleasure watching you lead over the years. I always loved your stories with your mentor Kirill [Sheynkman], and I’m sure you are now playing that role for many, many people. Much luck and love to you!”
Nodding to Redfin’s recent major acquisition deal with Rocket, HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins wrote, “Huge congrats on the incredible business you built, and the incredible deal and integration with Rocket…”
T3 Sixty founder and Executive Chairman Stefan Swanepoel commented, “You were a true game changer. Sorry to see you retire from a company with which your name has long been synonymous. Best wishes for continued success in the next chapter of your career!”
Dan Green, Opendoor’s director of mortgage growth, added, “I’ve loved watching you run your playbook, Glenn. Nobody has done it like you. Congratulations on what’s next. Best wishes.”
