Willis rejoined Keller Williams Realty as CEO in November 2023 and in March 2024 took over as president as well with the departure of Marc King. This puts him in a powerful position at the No. 1 franchise in the nation by sales volume with 850,462 sides totaling $357.6 million in annual sales.

A key player in the firm’s explosive growth from 2005 to 2015, who initially rejoined the executive team as a strategic consultant in July 2023, Willis also served as president of KW from 2002 to 2005.

Willis is focused on growth through training, consulting and proprietary technology that provides strategic advantage. In 2024, the company made several moves demonstrating its prioritization of agent training, including launching a revamped coaching program to cover regulatory changes and add a gamification system to track and reward growth. Willis also strengthened several key divisions with new executives in coaching, growth commercial and philanthropy.

In 2024, Willis also navigated the controversy around a company proposal to reduce the profit-share distribution from 100% to 5% for agents who left for competitors. With lawsuits from former KW agents mounting, Willis called on the company’s leadership, which ultimately decided to abandon that proposal.

Willis’s return to Keller Williams has come as the industry faces market headwinds, but Willis has helped keep the franchise behemoth stay the course. His longevity, deep industry experience and continued performance and role at the iconic industry company lands him back – he ranked No. 9 for 2014 and No. 8 for 2015 as CEO – among the 10 most powerful leaders in real estate.