Over 18 years, he helped build the world’s largest franchise real estate enterprise that includes some of real estate’s best-known brands, including Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA, Sotheby’s International Realty and ZipRealty.
Not bad for a steady and humble leader with the common name of Richard A. Smith.
On Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, Smith — the chairman, CEO and president of publicly traded Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE:RLGY) — will join Brad Inman on the main stage at Real Estate Connect New York City 2015 for a candid conversation about what it takes to build the world’s leading real estate franchise enterprise.
“Richard Smith is one of the smartest, steadiest hands in the industry who has built an enviable enterprise,” said Inman Publisher Brad Inman. “I look forward to talking to Richard about how Realogy will navigate the coming challenges to the industry.”
In 2012, the company completed one of the largest initial public offerings of the year, and in 2014 it acquired ZipRealty Inc. to leverage its technology platform across Realogy’s franchise brands and company-owned brokerage operations in the United States.
Smith oversees Realogy’s four complementary businesses:
- The Realogy Franchise Group, which consists of the brands listed above that, when combined, have approximately 13,400 franchised and company-owned offices and more than 250,000 brokers and agents worldwide.
- NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company with more than 720 offices and 45,200 sales associates in more than 45 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.
- Cartus, a corporate and government employee relocation that annually assists approximately 166,000 employees in 150 countries for a client base including 50 percent of the Fortune 50 companies.
- Title Resource Group (TRG), a full-service title and settlement services company with approximately 340 offices operating in 48 states and the District of Columbia.
Smith has led the company’s business operations since he was named as Realogy’s chief executive officer in November 2007. Smith is a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies. He currently serves as a commissioner on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission, which released its national housing policy recommendations in 2013.
To register for Connect, go to http://bit.ly/connectnyc.