A multitude of real estate companies have popular CEOs, according to a new list from employer review and recruiting company Glassdoor, which ranked the top executives based on employee feedback.
Jonathan Corr, the CEO of mortgage finance technology company Ellie Mae, was ranked 14th on the list of top CEOs for large companies — defined here as having more than 1,000 employees — with an approval rating of 96 percent. Corr said he was honored to be included on a list with so many other executives who he believes put people first.
“Thank you to Glassdoor for providing the opportunity for all of us to receive real-time feedback on what we’re doing right and areas we can improve,” he said. “I love my job because of the opportunity I have to work side-by-side with our innovative Ellie Mae teammates and to create a positive environment in which every employee loves their work, while we continue our company’s mission of automating everything that is automatable in the mortgage industry.”
Keller Williams CEO John Davis | Photo courtesy Keller Williams
Keller Williams CEO John Davis was ranked 30th with 95 percent of associates at the company approving of the job he’s done.
“I am humbled to be recognized among this incredible group of leaders and honored that I have the opportunity to serve our people,” Davis told Inman. “Our associates’ passion for building big businesses that benefit their families and communities inspires me each day. At Keller Williams, everything we do is centered on creating opportunities for our people to achieve more.”
Robert Sulentic, the CEO of the real estate services company CBRE finished 63rd on the list, with a 93 percent approval rating from the company’s employees.
The awards also considered 50 smaller companies of less than 1,000 employees as a separate category. CEOs in the real estate industry had a strong showing in this category:
- Chuck Leitner, of Berkshire Communities, placed 20th
- Mark Bloom, Scott McClellan and Jeremy Coburn of NetWorth Realty placed 29th
- Karen Fish-Will and Melissa Fish-Crane of Peabody Properties placed 32nd
- Robert Reffkin of Compass placed 33rd
- John Foresi of Venterra Realty placed 35th
- Glenn Sanford of eXp Realty placed 40th
- David Rice of New Home Star placed 41st
Sanford told Inman receiving the award was truly a team effort.
“It’s pretty humbling to get that sort of recognition, but it has to do with all of the great folks that we have in the company and all the work they do to make it a great place to work,” he said.
Glenn Sanford, CEO of eXp Realty | Photo by Brad Inman
His company eXp is far from traditional with its virtual cloud campus and everyone, including senior staff, working from a home office.
“The fact that we can create a collaborative culture that people want to be a part of, compared to our bricks-and-mortar counterparts is pretty awesome,” he said. “The fact that we work together every day in a virtual environment — we get all the benefit of traditional company without having to spend an hour every day driving to and from work.”
