The game of executive musical chairs plays on at Keller Williams.
Gary Keller fired off an email to employees Friday announcing Tony Rogers is out as chief growth officer of kwx, the holding company for the Keller Williams network of brokerage franchisees.
The move comes three months after Rogers’ arrival, and three weeks after Carl Liebert stepped down as CEO of kwx, with no replacement named.
A replacement for Rogers also was not announced.
In addition, the company announced Monica Reynolds, vice president of Keller Williams’ MAPS Coaching, is to retire. Jen Davis, co-owner of Keller Williams Missouri franchisee Holt Homes Group, was announced to replace Reynolds.
Inman News first reported on the departure of Rogers, who is the former Chief Member Officer of Sam’s Club and who worked for Walmart for 17 years. On his LinkedIn, Rogers lists Walmart’s headquarters of Bentonville, Arkansas as his locale. A message left with Rogers on LinkedIn Monday was not immediately returned.
Keller Williams spokesperson Daryl Frost in an email wrote the company is “exploring the possible evolution of our relationship with Tony as a consultant or similar role, so Keller Williams continues benefiting from his expertise.”
Asked why Rogers departed, Frost said Keller Williams “had nothing further to add.”
Keller Williams announced the appointment of Rogers in a March press release, which contained many of his job responsibilities. Rogers was to “accelerate growth across the kwx ecosystem of companies via strategic marketing, branding and communications-driven innovation and initiatives,” according to the release. Rogers was quoted in the news release as saying he was, “Instantly drawn to the people, culture and vision at Keller Williams. Like so many industries, real estate is being radically transformed by technology. And I am excited to have the opportunity to lean further into the disruption as we continue to position for aggressive growth.”
Residential real estate companies are locked in a continual struggle to find the right mix of investment in agents and technology, without spending too much in a low-margin business. Leadership changes are commonplace.
Still, Keller Williams has had a recent series of leadership twists and turns, which kicked off in October 2020. That’s when Gary Keller said he would step down as CEO of Keller Williams and announced the creation of kwx.
Keller bequeathed to Keller Williams president Josh Team, “all duties and responsibilities previously held by Keller.”
By February 2021, though, Team was out, putting a resignation note on his personal Facebook page.
An internal hire, Marc King, was picked to replace Team, and report to Liebert.
The timing of Liebert’s departure is unclear. In a statement at the time, Gary Keller thanked him for “his sincere hard work” and for providing leadership and experience “at a critical moment in our history.”
Liebert has worn many executive hats, including a brief stint as CEO of AutoNation. Upon his kwx resignation, Automotive News wrote, “Carl Liebert’s career in the real estate business lasted just 20 months. But that’s still more than four times as long as the former AutoNation CEO survived auto retailing.”
