Zillow promotes longtime accounting exec to replace retiring CAO 

Editor's note: As an industry with millions of agents and over 100,000 brokerage companies, new leaders rise to the top every day. Here we highlight executives and other notable leaders who've recently taken on, or stepped away from, roles that influence the residential real estate landscape.

One Zillow veteran promoted as another retires

Zillow announced this week that Rikki Tremblay, a longtime employee who has been with the company for nearly 12 years, has been promoted to vice president, principal accounting officer. Her promotion comes as Chief Accounting Officer Jennifer Rock, who has been with Zillow since 2011, prepares to retire.

Tremblay joined Zillow in late 2014 as the portal's manager of financial reporting. She has been promoted several times in her time at the company, serving most recently as vice president of reporting, technical accounting and controls. In her new role, Tremblay will report to Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Hofmann, who added chief operating officer to his title earlier this summer.

Tremblay's elevation is "part of a succession plan that's been in the works for quite some time," Zillow noted in a Sept. 17 blog post. Since joining the company, she has worked closely with Rock — who intends to stay on through March 1 to help oversee the transition — and now "knows our business inside and out," the post noted.

Rock began her career at Zillow as manager of financial reporting and was promoted to chief accounting officer in 2018 — a role she has held in the eight years since. Rock said the decision to retire is one she gave "a lot of careful thought," ultimately deciding that "while I'll miss Zillow, I'm excited to give my family my full attention."

"I love this company and will be cheering them on long after I leave," Rock added.

Longtime financial services exec rejoins B&W's mortgage arm

Kevin Christopher is returning to Key Mortgage, Baird & Warner's mortgage services division, as senior vice president of mortgage production as the firm looks to expand its footprint, according to a news release.

In a post on LinkedIn, Key Mortgage said Christopher "brings incredible expertise to drive our next phase of growth."

Christopher has worked in financial services for 34 years, serving most recently as managing director of mortgage sales for JPMorgan Chase's central division. In addition to his stint at Baird & Warner in the early 2000s, Christopher previously held leadership roles at BMO Harris, U.S. Bank and Prism Mortgage. 

"What drew me back to Key Mortgage is its truly integrated model — real estate, mortgage, title and insurance working together to deliver a better homebuying experience. It's exactly the kind of model the industry is consolidating around," Christopher said, noting that the Chicagoland brokerage is already "ahead of that curve."

 "I am excited to return to a company I have always admired," he added.