Craig Anderson
Compass’s recently hired chief financial officer is out, Inman News has learned.
Craig Anderson, who joined Compass in September to replace longtime CFO David Snider, “parted ways” with the company on Friday, in part as a result of a $550 million Series E funding round late last year that greatly magnified the company’s scale, and thus necessitated the talents of a CFO with prior experience overseeing the financials of a company of such a size.
“Craig was hired before Compass raised $550 million from SoftBank and Fidelity late last year,” a source said under condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the news. “The Company needs a CFO with experience operating a company at its current scale and beyond. Compass has engaged a search firm to assist in finding a successor CFO.”
The move comes three months after Compass received a massive $450 million investment from SoftBank Vision Fund, the collaborative tech investment vehicle launched by Japanese banking institution SoftBank. The massive investment has been heralded by Compass as the largest private real estate tech investment in U.S. history and followed on the heels of a $100 million investment from Fidelity Investments. The company is now valued at $2.2 billion.
In prepared statements sent to Inman News on Friday, both Compass Chief Executive Robert Reffkin and Anderson, who was tapped to oversee the company’s finance, investor relations, new development and legal teams, said the decision to depart was mutual.
“Craig is a really talented person,” said Reffkin. “I know he will go on to do great things.” Anderson came to Compass with tech chops, having most recently been COO and CFO of Flywheel Sports where he was responsible for operations, finance, supply chain, analytics, legal and strategic initiatives and helped develop consumer tech.
Added Anderson in a statement, “Compass has an incredibly talented team, and I’m nothing but optimistic about their outlook for growth. I wish the company much success.”
Meanwhile, Liming Zhao, until recently the company’s chief technology officer, has also tendered his resignation, according to the source. Last month he was appointed as chief information security officer, a move that may have hastened his decision to leave the company.
In a statement, Reffkin said Zhao plans to start his own company.
“After four and a half years at Compass, Liming Zhao has decided that he would like to start his own company,” Reffkin told Inman in a prepared statement. “As a company of entrepreneurs building for entrepreneurs, this is something we celebrate at Compass. We are grateful for Liming’s many contributions to Compass.”
Compass has hired a recruiting service to fill the chief financial officer, chief technology officer and chief information security officer positions, the source said.
