Glenn Sanford is stepping down as CEO of AGNT. Leo Pareja will be the new CEO of AGNT Inc.
“Tomorrow will be the first day that I am technically unemployed,” Sanford told an audience of hundreds of eXp agents at eXpCon in Salt Lake City.
“For the first time in the history of EXP and AGNT, we have the team that can take us forward into new places. I am stepping out of the role of CEO of AGNT and Leo [Pareja] is going to be the new CEO of AGNT, Inc.”
Inman caught up with Pareja (r) right after the announcement. Credit: Inman
In making his announcement on the main stage at the annual event, Sanford recounted the risk he took when he first entered real estate.
He will remain chairman of the board of directors following his retirement as CEO.
Inman was at eXpcon in Salt Lake City where we talked with Leo Pareja just moments after it was announced that he would be the new CEO of AGNT following the retirement of Glenn Sanford.
Thursday’s announcement marks the second time Sanford has handed a CEO position to Pareja. In April 2024, Pareja succeeded Sanford as CEO of eXp Realty, the company’s flagship brokerage, while Sanford remained chairman and CEO of its publicly traded parent company, then known as eXp World Holdings.
Pareja joined eXp in 2022 as president of affiliated services before moving into the chief strategy officer role later that year. Before joining eXp, Pareja co-founded real estate tech outfit Remine, which was acquired by MLS Technology Holdings in 2021. He also previously served as national president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).
The latest leadership change comes five months after eXp World Holdings acquired NextHome, expanding beyond its cloud-based brokerage model into real estate franchising. The company adopted the Nasdaq ticker AGNT in May before formally rebranding as AGNT, Inc., in June and moving its state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas. The parent company now oversees eXp Realty, NextHome, FrameVR.io and SUCCESS Enterprises.
Pareja takes the helm of the parent company following a period of growth. AGNT reported second-quarter revenue of $1.4 billion, up 11 percent from a year earlier, as real estate sales transactions increased 12 percent to 132,497. The company ended June with 87,338 agents and brokers across its platform, up 6 percent year over year, although it reported a quarterly net loss of $2.7 million.
Pareja has also emerged as an outspoken critic of private listing strategies, positioning eXp and NextHome as advocates for greater listing transparency amid an escalating industry battle over how homes are marketed and distributed. He and NextHome co-founder James Dwiggins have publicly challenged the more restrictive listing practices championed by rival brokerage giant Compass.
When asked by Inman in May whether the NextHome acquisition represented the formation of an “anti-Compass coalition,” Pareja instead described the partnership as a “coalition of transparency.” He reiterated that position days later as eXp sought to attract larger brokerage operators and franchisees amid a wave of industry consolidation, telling Inman, “What I can tell you that you’re seeing me do is sticking to my word. I do believe that I’m building a coalition of transparency.”
Taylor Anderson is a contributor and former reporter for Inman. He’s currently editor-in-chief of Building Salt Lake.
