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M. Ryan Gorman, who for the last three years has served as the CEO of Coldwell Banker, is leaving his role at the company.
Ryan Gorman
Gorman’s departure from the company, which is owned by parent Anywhere, was announced Tuesday afternoon. In a statement to Inman, Anywhere said Gorman will transition to the role of “strategic advisor,” while Sue Yannaccone will now oversee Coldwell Banker.
Yannaccone serves as president and CEO of Anywhere Brands, meaning she runs a variety of other titles the company owns including Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Corcoran and others.
Gorman’s departure was first reported by The Real Deal.
Wednesday’s statement from Anywhere frames the news as a kind of reorganization in which Coldwell Banker is being brought under the jurisdiction of Yannaccone’s Anywhere Brands, rather than as Yannaccone replacing Gorman.
Sue Yannaccone
Yannaccone first joined Anywhere in 2015. She became CEO of Anywhere Brands in 2020, when the enterprise was known as the Realogy Franchise Group.
Gorman first joined Anywhere — previously known as Realogy — in 2004. He held leadership roles in strategic development at the company and eventually worked his way up the ladder of the NRT brand. Gorman became chief strategy officer and chief operating officer at NRT in 2016, and president and CEO in 2018.
Gorman was named CEO of Coldwell Banker in 2019 when the brand was consolidated into a single entity. Charlie Young, who preceded Gorman as CEO of Coldwell Banker, stayed on with the company for several months in a senior advisory role, before eventually leaving altogether.
Gorman’s time leading Coldwell Banker was dominated by massive change and disruption. Among other events, he presided over a major rebranding effort that was meant to better position the company in a digital marketplace. He has also served as the public face of the brand, appearing frequently at industry gatherings and weighing in on issues such as the health of the market.
Additionally, Gorman oversaw Coldwell Banker’s acquisition of Warburg Realty.
Earlier this year, the Swanepoel Power 200 ranking listed Gorman as the 12th most powerful person in real estate.
Gorman’s tenure over Coldwell Banker also coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, which after a brief market dip in early 2020 saw record sales and price growth numbers in the housing market. More recently, however, rising interest rates have significantly cooled the sector.
Like most real estate companies, shares in Coldwell Banker parent Anywhere rose in 2021 thanks to the booming market. Somewhat uniquely, Anywhere shares stayed near their early 2021 high points into the fall of that year, even as other companies’ stock prices began a long downward trajectory.
However, Anywhere wasn’t immune to investors’ fears about real estate, and over the last year its share price has fallen more than 54 percent. Shares in Anywhere were going for $7.35 as of the end of trading Tuesday.
Credit: Google
In general over the past year, Anywhere’s stock market performance has tended to be better than those of both younger real estate companies and tech-oriented companies. For example, shares in rival Compass have fallen more than 73 percent over the last year, and shares in eXp World Holdings are down more than 66 percent. Shares in Opendoor are down more than 90 percent.
In addition to shifting the roles of Gorman and Yannaccone, Tuesday’s announcement also revealed that Don Casey — president and CEO of Anywhere Integrated Services — will expand his role to oversee Anywhere’s Cartus relocation services business. Casey’s existing duties saw him manage title and settlement services, insurance, and mortgage and underwriter joint-ventures.
Both Casey and Yannaccone will report directly to Anywhere CEO Ryan Schneider, and will serve on the company’s executive committee, according to the statement.
Katrina Helmkamp, currently the president and CEO of Cartus, is retiring at the end of the year. Eric Barnes, Cartus’ chief financial officer and vice president, is stepping in as interim president and CEO of the brand.
In the statement, Schneider thanked both Helmkamp and Gorman for their work at the company, praising them for “driving growth of their respective businesses, simplifying operations, and innovating with new products, technology, and marketing to support affiliated agents, franchise owners, and mobility clients.”
Ryan Schneider
Schneider also described Yannaccone and Casey as “exceptional leaders with deep expertise running multiple successful scaled businesses.”
“We believe having a singular leader for our core real estate brokerage business and likewise, for the real estate transaction services we provide,” Schneider added, “will help Anywhere move even faster, create more value for our customers, and ultimately, deliver a better experience for both affiliated agents and consumers.”
Update: This story was updated after publication with information that Anywhere provided to Inman, as well as background on the company and on Gorman’s tenure at the helm.
