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Just shy of four years after being hired, Compass Chief Operating Officer Greg Hart is leaving the brokerage — which is eliminating his role entirely.
Greg Hart
Compass first announced Hart’s departure Tuesday in a note posted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website. The note merely says that Hart will depart effective Dec. 31, 2023, and that Compass will no longer have a chief operating officer after that date.
Company CEO Robert Reffkin subsequently announced the news in an email to employees, saying that Hart had played “a material role in our cost restructuring efforts over the past two years” and helped “the company achieve its goal of being free cash flow positive.” Reffkin also said that he and Hart subsequently “decided that now is a good time for him to move on from Compass.”
“We will not be replacing his role as Chief Operating Officer,” Reffkin continued in the email. “This will allow for a streamlined management team with fewer layers and faster decision-making empowering our teams and local regions even more.”
Chief Financial Officer Kalani Reelitz and Reffkin will now take over management of the teams that previously reported to Hart.
Hart first joined Compass in March 2020 to serve as the company’s new chief product officer. He came to Compass after having worked at Amazon since 1997, three years after Jeff Bezos founded the online retailer. His final role at that company was president of worldwide Amazon Video.
In a statement at the time he joined Compass, the brokerage described Hart as a “pioneering product leader” at Amazon, with Reffkin adding that he was “someone [with whom] we could not be more excited to collaborate.”
Hart went from Compass’ chief product office to chief operating office in the summer of 2022.
After years of rapid growth, Compass has lately turned its focus to improving its financial performance. During a quarter earnings call last year, Reffkin announced a plan to have positive free cash flow in 2023 — something that as of the brokerage’s November earnings call it was still on track to achieve.
The push for positive cash flow meant the company has also made a series of pivots and cuts. In 2022 and early 2023, for example, Compass engaged in multiple rounds of layoffs. Compass also cut its previously lucrative stock and cash-based recruiting incentives for new agents in 2022. Hart was the executive who walked investors through that decision during an August 2022 earnings call.
Compass last year also parted ways with Joseph Sirosh, a former Microsoft executive hired in 2018 to serve as chief technology officer.
In Tuesday’s email, Reffkin ultimately expressed appreciation for Hart’s efforts while at Compass. Hart led the “building of foundational tools such as Business Tracker, and brought a “sense of operational rigor and focus to our day-to-day business,” Reffkin said.
“He has been a great partner to me and the leadership team,” Reffkin continued in the email, “and we will always be grateful for his contributions.”
Update: This post was updated after publication with additional information about Hart’s role change during his time at Compass.
Correction: Hart joined Compass just under four years ago. This story originally misstated his duration at the firm.
