A 16-year MLS exec prepares to hand off CEO role
Merri Jo Cowen, who leads Florida’s Stellar MLS, will step down next year to focus on promoting global MLS practices. COO Shayne Fairley will take over as CEO.
The longtime leader of the country's third-largest MLS is stepping away from the helm, but she plans to continue promoting MLS practices on a global level.
Merri Jo Cowen will relinquish her role as CEO of Stellar MLS in the first quarter of 2026, according to a July 31 announcement from the organization. In the meantime, she will stay on to support her successor, Stellar MLS COO Shayne Fairley, as he prepares to move into the top leadership position.
What's next for the industry veteran: Cowen will retain an advisory role at Stellar while also leading the organization's subsidiary, Universal Consulting Opportunities, which advances MLS practices outside the U.S.
UCO has been forming strategic partnerships across the globe over the past year, including in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, with the goal of fostering collaboration and trust in the global real estate industry, according to a news release.
"The global market is like a new frontier just waiting to be discovered. With our experience in the MLS space, it's beyond exciting to learn about the various markets, what already exists in the form of an MLS, and from there build excitement about the possibilities," Cowen said in an email.
"We've certainly learned that we can't transplant our North American version of an MLS in global markets — and yet, there are so many foundational principles and technology options to begin building marketplaces that bring real estate professionals and consumers together."
No 'better hands' than Fairley's: Cowen said she's ready to step back and let Fairley take the reins at Stellar, which serves more than 84,000 customers in Florida and Puerto Rico.
"I truly cannot imagine leaving what we've built in better hands. Shayne knows Stellar MLS inside and out, and I have complete trust in his leadership and absolute confidence that he'll take this organization to the next level," Cowen said.
Fairley has been Stellar's COO since 2017 and first joined the organization in 2005.
A leader, advocate and respected industry voice: Cowen began her MLS career more than four decades ago, and she has served as CEO at Steller for 16 years. That depth of experience has earned her considerable sway in the MLS world — and in the real estate industry at large. The 2025 Swanepoel Power 200, a list of the industry's most influential leaders, ranked Cowen 47th overall and sixth in organized real estate.
In recent years, she has worked to educate consumers about the value of the MLS, particularly in light of the commissions lawsuits that revealed the public's lack of understanding about multiple listing services.
Overall, it's a role she's relished.
"When you're five years old and your mom asks what you want to be… no one says they want to be a CEO for an MLS," Cowen said with a chuckle in a 2024 interview with Real Estate News.
"But having a career this long is based on still being passionate about this," she said. "I think that passion and growing future leaders as well as working closely with your volunteers helps your organization grow."