# Compass, Inc.

Compass, Inc. operates a residential real estate brokerage in the United States. It has approximately 29,000 agents, who are generally independent contractors, on its platform.
In 2023, the company completed 178,848 transactions for a gross dollar value of $186.1 billion. It had a market share in the U.S. of 4.5%. SoftBank Vision Fund owns 30.1% of the company.

## History

Compass was founded by Ori Allon, Robert Reffkin, and Avi Dorfman as Urban Compass, Inc. in New York City in October 2012. Allon was a Director of Engineering at Twitter, and previously founded companies acquired by Twitter and Google. Reffkin had previously served as the chief of staff to the president of Goldman Sachs and worked in the White House. Avi Dorfman had previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Lehman Brothers, and founded a startup.
The company raised $8 million of seed funding. The initial business model employed full-time, salaried brokers and was focused only on rentals. The service was launched in May 2013.
In January 2014, Compass announced it would change its overall business model by contracting independent real estate agents, receiving a portion of the broker commission.
In July 2014, Compass signed a lease on 25,000 square feet of office space at 90 5th Avenue, which became its global headquarters.
In June 2014, Leonard Steinberg, previously with Douglas Elliman, was named president of the company. At that time, the company had 125 agents and 70 staff members.
In July 2016, the company launched a mobile app.
The company expanded into several markets, both organically and via acquisitions. By January 2017, the company operated in 9 U.S. markets: New York, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, Washington, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Aspen. At that time, it had 1,300 agents.
On April 1, 2021, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.
In November 2021, Compass settled with Avi Dorfman, ending an 8-year dispute, and acknowledging him as a member of the founding team. The company took a $21.3 million charge in connection with the matter.
The company announced several rounds of layoffs in 2022 and 2023.

### Acquisitions

| Date | Acquired | Description |
| November 2014 | Lindsay Reishman Real Estate | Washington, D.C.–based broker |
| April 2016 | Shane Aspen Real Estate | Aspen-based broker |
| January 2017 | Bushari Real Estate | Boston-based brokerage |
| April 2018 | Conlon | Chicago-based brokerage |
| April 2018 | Northwest Group Real Estate | Seattle-based brokerage |
| June 2018 | The Hudson Company | Chicago-based brokerage |
| July 2018 | Paragon Real Estate Group | San Francisco–based brokerage |
| August 2018 | Avenue Properties | Seattle-based brokerage |
| August 2018 | Pacific Union International | San Francisco–based brokerage |
| November 2018 | Wydler Brothers | Washington, D.C.–based brokerage |
| February 2019 | Contactually | CRM provider; shut down in March 2022 |
| March 2019 | Alain Pinel Realtors | San Francisco–based brokerage |
| April 2019 | Stribling & Associates | New York–based brokerage |
| November 2019 | Detectica | AI Startup |
| October 2020 | Modus | Home closing startup, shut down in June 2022 |
| February 2021 | KVS Title | Title insurance and settlement services provider |
| April 2021 | Glide Labs | Transaction management platform |
| September 2021 | First Alliance Title | Title insurance and settlement services provider |
| September 2021 | CommonGround Abstract | Title insurance and settlement services provider |
| May 2022 | Consumer's Title Company | Title insurance and settlement services provider |
| April 2023 | Launch Real Estate | Arizona-based brokerage |
| September 2023 | Deasy Penner Podley/DPP | Pasadena-based luxury boutique brokerage |
| September 2023 | Realty Austin and Realty San Antonio | Texas-based brokerages |
| January 2024 | Attorneys Key Title | Fort Lauderdale–based title company |
| April 2024 | Latter & Blum | Broker operating in Louisiana and Mississippi |
| May 2024 | Parks Real Estate | Broker operating in Tennessee |

## Awards

Compass was named Mid-Sized Business of the Year by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce in 2015.
In 2018, Compass was named to Crain's Fast 50.
In January 2019, it was ranked 14th on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work.
In April 2019, Compass received a Webby Award for Best Real Estate Website.
In August 2019, it was named one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators by Fast Company.
Compass won the 2020 Webby Award in the real estate web category.