Realogy CEO Schneider to Deliver Keynote, “Surviving the New Real Estate Landscape,” at RISMedia’s Real Estate CEO Exchange in New York City Next Week
The battle between Compass and Realogy reignited this weekend, with Compass alleging Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider floated the prospect of a sale to Compass—which the company purportedly rejected—and Schneider calling the claim “simply not true.”
Earlier this summer, Realogy sued Compass, accusing the company of “unfair business practices and illegal schemes,” including “grossly” overpaid recruiting tactics.
On Friday, Compass filed a motion to dismiss the suit, asserting it would file counterclaims if otherwise, basing them on “a meeting arranged by Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider in which Schneider discussed that he had considered selling the company.”
Schneider responded swiftly, addressing employees in an internal letter on Saturday, which read, in part:
” issued a media statement designed to inspire sensational news coverage about Realogy that is simply not true…While we generally do not comment on pending litigation outside the company or even within the company, we want to be clear with you that we have never had discussions to sell or merge Realogy with Compass. The reality is that Compass is trying to distract the media and the industry from the core issue of its illegal and unfair business practices, which are part of our lawsuit against them.”
Compass—on the cusp of an IPO, analysts expect, with a $6.4 billion valuation—garnered $45.5 billion in sales volume in 2018, making it the third-largest Power Broker in the U.S.
Realogy’s brokerage division, NRT LLC, is the nation’s No. 1 Power Broker by sales volume, raking in $176 billion. Last week, Realogy announced a major organizational shift, with NRT CEO Ryan Gorman heading up a “unified Coldwell Banker leadership team” and Coldwell Banker Real Estate CEO Charlie Young moving into an advisory role; Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate CEO Sherry Chris leading Realogy’s Expansion Brands, which includes Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and ERA Real Estate; and ERA Real Estate CEO Simon Chen becoming executive vice president of Product and Innovation for Realogy.
Next week, Schneider is delivering the keynote presentation at RISMedia’s Real Estate CEO Exchange in New York City, where he will address “Surviving the New Real Estate Landscape.”
Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia’s online news editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com.
