Compass, Inc. provides residential real estate brokerage and related services in the United States. Including its franchised businesses, it has approximately 340,000 agents and associates, who are generally independent contractors, on its platform. It operates under many brand names including Compass, @properties, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21 Real Estate, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran Group, ERA Real Estate, Sotheby's International Realty, and Christie's International Real Estate.
History Compass was founded by Ori Allon, Robert Reffkin, and Avi Dorfman as Urban Compass, Inc. in New York City in October 2012. Allon was a Director of Engineering at Twitter, and previously founded companies acquired by Twitter and Google. Reffkin had previously served as the chief of staff to the president of Goldman Sachs and worked in the White House. Avi Dorfman had previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Lehman Brothers, and founded a startup.
The company raised $8 million of seed funding. The initial business model employed full-time, salaried brokers and was focused only on rentals. The service was launched in May 2013.
In January 2014, Compass announced it would change its overall business model by contracting independent real estate agents, receiving a portion of the broker commission.
In July 2014, Compass signed a lease on 25,000 square feet of office space at 90 5th Avenue, which became its global headquarters.
In June 2014, Leonard Steinberg, previously with Douglas Elliman, was named president of the company. At that time, the company had 125 agents and 70 staff members.
In July 2016, the company launched a mobile app.
The company expanded into several markets, both organically and via acquisitions. By January 2017, the company operated in 9 U.S. markets: New York, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Washington, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Aspen. At that time, it had 1,300 agents.
On April 1, 2021, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.
In November 2021, Compass settled with Avi Dorfman, ending an 8-year dispute, and acknowledging him as a member of the founding team. The company took a $21.3 million charge in connection with the matter.
The company announced several rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023.
In June 2025, Compass sued Zillow for violation of federal antitrust laws with its policy that any home that was put on the market but not available for listing on Zillow within 24 hours would be banned from its site.
Acquisitions Date Acquired Description SourceNovember 2014Lindsay Reishman Real EstateWashington, D.C.–based brokerApril 2016Shane Aspen Real EstateAspen-based brokerJanuary 2017Bushari Real EstateBoston-based brokerageApril 2018ConlonChicago-based brokerageApril 2018Northwest Group Real EstateSeattle-based brokerageJune 2018The Hudson CompanyChicago-based brokerageJuly 2018Paragon Real Estate GroupSan Francisco–based brokerageAugust 2018Avenue PropertiesSeattle-based brokerageAugust 2018Pacific Union InternationalSan Francisco–based brokerageNovember 2018Wydler BrothersWashington, D.C.–based brokerageFebruary 2019ContactuallyCRM provider; shut down in March 2022March 2019Alain Pinel RealtorsSan Francisco–based brokerageApril 2019Stribling & AssociatesNew York–based brokerageNovember 2019DetecticaAI StartupOctober 2020ModusHome closing startup, shut down in June 2022February 2021KVS TitleTitle insurance and settlement services providerApril 2021Glide LabsTransaction management platformSeptember 2021First Alliance TitleTitle insurance and settlement services providerSeptember 2021CommonGround AbstractTitle insurance and settlement services providerMay 2022Consumer's Title CompanyTitle insurance and settlement services providerApril 2023Launch Real EstateArizona-based brokerageSeptember 2023Deasy Penner Podley/DPPPasadena-based luxury boutique brokerageSeptember 2023Realty Austin and Realty San AntonioTexas-based brokeragesJanuary 2024Attorneys Key TitleFort Lauderdale–based title companyApril 2024Latter & BlumBroker operating in Louisiana and MississippiMay 2024Parks Real EstateBroker operating in TennesseeDecember 2024Christie's International Real EstateBrokerage brand; price was $150 million in cash and $294 million in Compass stockFebruary 2025Washington Fine PropertiesBroker operating in Washington, D.C.July 2025PorchLight Real Estate GroupBroker operating in ColoradoJuly 2025Cottingham ChalkBrokerage based in Charlotte, NCJanuary 2026Anywhere Real EstateBrokerage operating under the names Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21 Real Estate, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran Group, and Sotheby's International Realty
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