Former Anywhere exec Sue Yannaccone is now COO at Compass
After leading Anywhere Brands for more than five years, Yannaccone has been appointed chief operating officer of Compass following its acquisition of Anywhere.
Sue Yannaccone, the former president and CEO of Anywhere Brands, has a new job: chief operating officer at Compass International Holdings.
The appointment, first reported by Inman, comes just over two months after Compass' acquisition of Anywhere officially closed.
According to Yannaccone's LinkedIn page, she assumed the COO role at Compass in January, right around the time that longtime Anywhere CEO Ryan Schneider left the company.
A 'unique opportunity': As COO, Yannaccone will lead enterprise operations and the strategic implementation of scaled technology across Compass, which estimates that it has about 340,000 real estate professionals working in about 120 countries and territories after combining with Anywhere.
In a news release, Yannaccone said her "sole focus" will be ensuring that every Compass-affiliated agent "is benefiting directly from the strength of our combined organization."
"By leveraging the vast experience, technology, and services combined with the distinctness of our nine brands, we have the unique opportunity to arm real estate professionals with everything they need to take their business to new heights," she added.
Helping Compass grow 'the right way': Compass is "building the most agent-centric company in the history of real estate, and Sue is going to make sure we do it the right way," Compass Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin said. "Her experience, her instincts, and her commitment to our people make her an invaluable part of what we're creating."
One instinct? Supporting agents by providing consistent and honest communication.
"From a leadership perspective, you have to communicate — even if you don't have anything to communicate," Yannaccone said on the Playmakers podcast last year.
A wave of leadership changes: Yannaccone's appointment is the latest in a series of personnel shakeups at Compass over the past few months.
Earlier this week, the company promoted Shay Artzi — formerly SVP of engineering — into the C-suite, where he now holds the chief technology officer role. Compass also recently promoted Neda Navab, formerly brokerage president, to serve as company president.
Yannaccone isn't the only former Anywhere executive to take on a top role at the post-merger brokerage. In February, Compass appointed Timothy Gustavson to serve as chief accounting officer, the same role he was holding at Anywhere when the deal closed. Gustavson was also named Compass' principal accounting officer.