The Swanepoel Power 200 ranks the most powerful leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry as 2023 kicks off. Criteria used to rank leaders include the scope and power of leaders’ positions, the financial resources they have at their disposal, whether they have equity stake in their company, their trajectory and much more. For a detailed description of the careful methodology T3 Sixty used to determine the rankings, please see the methodology here.
These rankings (SP 200) reflect the leaders in the industry and is not a company ranking. Size and sales volume listed in bios provide framing and, while used to determine ranking, were just part of the data considered. Note that the numbers used in many of the bios reflect full-year 2021 data, as those are the only available across the board for all companies. Most companies have not completed their 2022 financials and our official company and brokerage rankings (Mega 1000) will be published in May 2023 after financial and audits have been completed.
21
Liebman leads Anywhere’s newest franchise brand Corcoran Group as president and CEO. The brand, designed to serve megacities and leisure markets in the U.S. and around the world, sold its first franchise in 2020 and now has, within less than two years, grown into a network of over 5,500 agents who do over $36 billion in annuals sales. Liebman previously managed the day-to-day operations of the New York City-based offices of this powerhouse for two decades.
22
President at Zillow Group since February 2021, Daimler is responsible for the company’s Premier Agent business (Zillow Group’s biggest business), corporate communications and government relations. Premier Agent brought in $1.0 billion in 2022 through the third quarter. Daimler joined the company in 2012 when Zillow acquired Buyfolio, a startup she founded in 2006.
23
Chris serves as CEO of the Anywhere Expansion Brands, which includes Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and ERA Real Estate. In this role, she leads brands with more than 25,000 agents who do $67 billion in annual sales in over 40 countries. Before taking over the two brands in 2019, Chris built the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand from the ground up into the nation’s 11th largest residential real estate brokerage franchise.
24
Miedler is President and CEO of the nation’s sixth largest franchise brand, Century 21 Real Estate. The brand’s nearly 50,000 affiliated U.S. agents do over $118 billion in annual sales. Before assuming the lead of Century 21, Miedler served as global chief growth officer for the brand where he led the franchise sales team focused on capturing share in emerging and diverse markets.
25
Duffy leads the large real estate network United Real Estate Group, which operates residential, country and auctioneering divisions. Its residential division operates with an agent flat-fee business model with both company-owned and franchised offices. The firm, which continued acquiring companies in 2022, has more than 16,000 agents in 27 states and a 2021 sales volume of approximately $21 billion.
26
The third-generation leader of the brokerage his grandfather founded in 1931, Scott oversees nearly 3,000 agents in over 110 franchised and company-owned offices in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. The company’s franchised and company-owned offices do over $20 billion in annual sales. Scott founded the John L. Scott Foundation in 1997 in honor of his grandfather.
27
Doctorow has led Realtor.com operator Move (a subsidiary of global media company News Corp) since early 2020 and has generated steady results. In the third quarter 2022, Move reported $170 million in revenue, a slight uptick from the same period the year before. Doctorow came to Move from eBay, where he served as head of global growth. Previously, he was chief marketing and strategy officer at Expedia.
28
Carter leads the nation’s largest MLS in CRMLS, which has over 110,000 members, and is the country’s most powerful and influential MLS executive. A member of the MLS think tank MLS Roundtable, he has played a key role in introducing new developments in the MLS, including an effort to pioneer novel ways for MLSs to monetize data with REdistribute and in ways to invest in technology directly with venture firm CRMLS spearheaded Venture MLS.
29
Donnellan leads the nation’s second largest MLS in Bright MLS, which serves more than 103,000 members in the Mid-Atlantic region, with a steady, clear focus on innovation and serving members. In 2022, he orchestrated a partnership with CRMLS to monetize MLS data with REdistribute. In addition, he is positioning Bright to become a data and research thought leader – it hired a chief economist and a data scientist in 2022.
30
The charismatic leader of the nation’s second largest local Realtor association in the Houston Association of Realtors, Hale is also one of the most well-known and respected association leaders in the nation. He leads the over 40,000-member association, which has members across Texas and operates HAR.com, the only local Realtor association site that regularly ranks among the nation’s 25 most visited real estate websites.
31
Brothers Chris and Ryan lead William Raveis Real Estate, the company their father William Raveis founded in 1974, as co-presidents. Ryan runs the company’s strategy and headquarters, while Chris manages its residential sales division. The firm’s brokerage operates across eight Northeast states and Florida with over 4,500 agents who do more than $21 billion in annual sales.
32
President and CEO
,
Long & Foster Companies (a HomeServices of America company)
Detwiler manages the Long & Foster Companies, the large Mid-Atlantic brokerage that HomeServices of America acquired in 2017 but still operates as a separate brand. The company operates in seven states with over 11,000 agents, 230 locations, 1,800 employees and $30 billion in annual sales. He serves on the MoxiWorks board of directors and is a graduate from Princeton University.
33
Boomsma runs LeadingRE, one of the nation’s most influential brokerage networks with over 565 firms and more than 150,000 agents in its worldwide network. The organization counts many of the nation’s largest independent brokerages as members, who network and share best practices and referrals with each other. Before becoming CEO in 2018, he ran the LeadingRE’s Luxury Portfolio International division.
34
Webber and Wright own Majestic Realty, which has three Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) affiliates in its stable: LIV SIR (the largest), Summit SIR and Sierra SIR. Combined, the companies, which operate primarily in Colorado, Utah and California, rank as the nation’s 15th largest brokerage with approximately 1,000 agents who do nearly $15.0 billion in annual sales.
35
General Counsel and Chief Member Experience Officer
,
National Association of Realtors
As NAR’s general counsel and chief member experience officer, Johnson ensures NAR’s programs, policies and activities comply with the law. She has played an increasingly important role in recent years as NAR manages the class-action antitrust commission lawsuits that name NAR as a defendant and in the ongoing investigation with the U.S. Department of Justice around its policies related to compensation. The lawsuits and investigations are ongoing. Johnson joined NAR in 2007 and became general counsel in 2014.
36
A multidimensional leader, Kinney operates a diverse real estate empire through his company Ben Kinney Companies, which includes a real estate team, brokerage, coaching and technology firm. In recent years, he has focused his energy on growing Place, a real estate service platform designed for real estate teams. His brokerage wing, which operates under the Keller Williams Realty brand, has over 1,600 agents who do more than $6.7 billion in annual sales, ranking 44th nationally.
37
Dwiggins leads NextHome, the nation’s 20th largest franchise brand by 2021 transaction sides with approximately 5700 agents in over 600 offices across the U.S. Franchise Business Review named NextHome as one of its top franchise brands for culture in 2021. Dwiggins is a third-generation real estate professional – his grandmother and grandfather, father and mother were all in the business.
38
Since 2014, Swartzman has run Peerage Realty Partners, which owns a growing portfolio of brokerages in the U.S. and Canada. After making acquisitions of two large U.S. Sotheby’s International Realty affiliates, the brokerage is on pace to do over $30 billion in 2022 sales, which will likely make it a top 10 brokerage on the Mega 1000.
39
O’Bryon heads up the RE/MAX’s largest franchise in Fair Oaks, California-based RE/MAX Gold. The company has made a spate of acquisitions in recent years, including the purchase of two Pacific Northwest RE/MAX franchisees, which brings the brokerage’s scope to over 3,000 agents across 135 offices in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
40
Bonnell joined EXIT Realty Corp. in 1999 and was appointed President and CEO of U.S. operations in 2012. She has since transitioned to co-chair of the franchise brand. The EXIT Realty network includes over 22,000 U.S. agents who do over $27 billion in annual sales. Bonnell also plays a prominent role in empowering women leaders in the real estate industry.
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