Company type | Public |
---|---|
NYSE: COMP | |
Industry | Real estate |
Founded | October 4, 2012 |
Founder | Ori Allon Robert Reffkin Avi Dorfman[1] |
Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people |
|
Services | Broker |
Revenue | US$6.018 billion (2022) |
US$−589 million (2022) | |
US$−601 million (2022) | |
Total assets | US$1.533 billion (2022) |
Total equity | US$520 million (2022) |
Owner | SoftBank Vision Fund (30.1%) Robert Reffkin (2.1%) |
Number of employees | 3,191 (2022) |
Website | compass |
Footnotes / references [2][3] |
Compass, Inc. operates a residential real estate brokerage in the United States.[4][5] It has approximately 28,000 agents, who are generally independent contractors, on its platform.[2]
In 2022, the company completed 211,538 transactions for a gross dollar value of $230.3 billion. It had a market share in the U.S. of 4.5%.[2] SoftBank Vision Fund owns 30.1% of the company.[3]
For its customers who sell their homes, in addition to regular brokerage services, the company provides access to loans to make home improvements[6] and access to bridge loans to fund down payments on new homes before the customers' previous home is sold.[7][8]
Compass was founded by Ori Allon, Robert Reffkin, and Avi Dorfman as Urban Compass, Inc. in New York City in October 2012.[2][9] Allon was a Director of Engineering at Twitter, and previously founded companies acquired by Twitter and Google.[10] Reffkin had previously served as the chief of staff to the president of Goldman Sachs[11] and worked in the White House.[12][13] Avi Dorfman had previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Lehman Brothers, and founded a startup.
The company raised $8 million of seed funding.[13][10] The initial business model employed full-time, salaried brokers[14] and was focused only on rentals.[15] The service was launched in May 2013.[16][15]
In January 2014, Compass announced it would change its overall business model by contracting independent real estate agents, receiving a portion of the broker commission.[17]
In July 2014, Compass signed a lease on 25,000 square feet of office space at 90 5th Avenue, which became its global headquarters.[18]
In June 2014, Leonard Steinberg, previously with Douglas Elliman, was named president of the company.[19][20] At that time, the company had 125 agents and 70 staff members.[21]
In July 2016, the company launched a mobile app.[22]
The company expanded into several markets, both organically and via acquisitions. By January 2017, the company operated in 9 U.S. markets: New York, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Washington, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Aspen.[23] At that time, it had 1,300 agents.[24]
On April 1, 2021, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.[25]
In November 2021, Compass formally settled with Avi Dorfman, ending an 8-year dispute, and acknowledging him as a member of the founding team.[9] The company took a $21.3 million charge in connection with the matter.[26]
The company announced several rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023.[27][28]
Date | Acquired | Description | Source |
---|---|---|---|
November 2014 | Lindsay Reishman Real Estate | Washington, D.C.-based broker | [29][30] |
April 2016 | Shane Aspen Real Estate | Aspen-based broker | [31] |
January 2017 | Bushari Real Estate | Boston-based brokerage | [32] |
April 2018 | Conlon | Chicago-based brokerage | [33][34] |
April 2018 | Northwest Group Real Estate | Seattle-based brokerage | [35][36] |
June 2018 | The Hudson Company | Chicago-based brokerage | [37][38] |
July 2018 | Paragon Real Estate Group | San Francisco-based brokerage | [39][40] |
August 2018 | Avenue Properties | Seattle-based brokerage | [41][42] |
August 2018 | Pacific Union International | San Francisco-based brokerage | [43][44] |
November 2018 | Wydler Brothers | Washington, D.C.-based brokerage | [45][46] |
February 2019 | Contactually | CRM provider; shut down in March 2022 | [47] |
March 2019 | Alain Pinel Realtors | San Francisco-based brokerage | [48][49] |
April 2019 | Stribling & Associates | New York-based brokerage | [50][51] |
November 2019 | Detectica | AI Startup | [52][53][54] |
October 2020 | Modus | Home closing startup, shut down in June 2022 | [55][56] |
February 2021 | KVS Title | Title insurance and settlement services provider | [57][58] |
April 2021 | Glide Labs | Transaction management platform | [59][60] |
September 2021 | First Alliance Title | Title insurance and settlement services provider | [61][62] |
September 2021 | CommonGround Abstract | Title insurance and settlement services provider | [63][64] |
May 2022 | Consumer's Title Company | Title insurance and settlement services provider | [65][66] |
April 2023 | Launch Real Estate | Arizona-based brokerage | [67][68] |
September 2023 | Deasy Penner Podley/DPP | Pasadena-based luxury boutique brokerage | [69] |
September 2023 | Realty Austin and Realty San Antonio | Texas-based brokerages | [70][71][72] |
January 2024 | Attorneys Key Title | Fort Lauderdale-based title company | [73] |
Compass was named Mid-Sized Business of the Year by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce in 2015.[11]
In 2018, Compass was named to Crain's Fast 50.[74]
In January 2019, it was ranked 14th on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work.[75]
In April 2019, Compass received a Webby Award for Best Real Estate Website.[76]
In August 2019, it was named to Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators.[77]
Compass won the 2020 Webby Award in the real estate web category.[78]