A new CEO for Keller Williams as it announces major investor
KW says the strategic investment by CoreLogic owner Stone Point Capital is designed to “fuel growth” as Christopher Czarnecki takes the helm.
Keller Williams announced this morning a new investment from private equity firm Stone Point Capital, which will take a major ownership stake in the Austin-based real estate franchise giant.
The deal will include a change in leadership, with Christopher Czarnecki, who previously served as CEO of the REIT Broadstone Net Lease, taking over as Keller Williams president and CEO — a role vacated by Mark Willis in January.
Gary Keller will stay on as co-founder and executive chairman and retain partial ownership in the company. He framed the move as an opportunity to help ensure the firm's growth, noting that KW "will also be exploring new ways to make sure top agents and franchisees who drive the growth of our business are able to share in its future success."
"We've built an incredible foundation and as we focus on each agent's personal development and their continual sales growth, we welcome the partnership and backing from the team at Stone Point Capital," Keller said in the announcement. Stone Point also owns CoreLogic and is an investor in Lone Wolf and other proptech companies.
As for Keller? "I'm excited for the future and I'm excited to be entering the most prolific writing, teaching, and coaching phase of my 48-year career in real estate," he said. "I love this company and I'm not going anywhere."
'Private equity and big capital' continuing its move into real estate
Stone Point's investment in Keller Williams "validates the continued involvement of private equity and big capital in the residential brokerage industry," said Jack Miller, CEO and president of T3 Sixty, one of real estate's leading management consultancies.
"Half of the top 20 brokerages and all of the top five enterprises (Anywhere, Keller Williams, RE/MAX, HomeServices of America, and Compass) are now publicly traded or have substantial private equity backers," Miller said. (Note: Real Estate News is an editorially independent division of T3 Sixty.)
The partnership announcement also touched on Stone Point Capital's other investments in the real estate space and its "strong track record of partnering with winning businesses" to "help them scale and reach their full potential." Part of reaching that full potential, the announcement suggests, is a continued focus on agent marketing and branding, education and coaching, and data and technology.
Keller Williams has previously touted its training and tech as key advantages over other brokerage companies.
Inman first broke the news of the investment and new CEO.