Glenn Kelman Steps Down As Redfin Ceo

It’s the end of an era at Redfin. Glenn Kelman, Redfin’s longtime CEO, announced that he is leaving the firm in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday. 

“After 20 years, I’m leaving Redfin. I gave it my all! Leaving was my decision. I love my colleagues. We saved consumers a billion dollars in commissions. I hope to use all that I learned to do something as good as Redfin, in a different field,” Kelman wrote. 

His decision to leave comes roughly 10 months after Rocket Companies announced its acquisition of Redfin in March 2025. In his post, Kelman thanks Rocket and its CEO Varun Krishna for helping him and his team “play to win.” 

According to Kelman, he made the decision to leave ahead of his firm’s second phase of integration with Rocket Companies.

“We’ll start the second, much-longer phase at next week’s all-company meeting, which is much-greater scale. Approaching that, I had to decide whether to be at Rocket for years,” he wrote.

More than 20 years at Redfin

While Redfin was founded in 2004, Kelman came on board shortly thereafter in September of 2005 to serve as CEO. 

“I’m grateful to Redfin customers. In our early days, you took a chance on us when most buyers and sellers of homes won’t take any chances at all,” Kelman added on LinkedIn. “And to Redfin supporters everywhere, thank you for embracing a company that marched to the beat of its own drum.”

Redfin did not immediately respond to HousingWire’s request for comment on Kelman’s departure.

“Redfin will be in good hands,” Kelman wrote. “Varun’s involvement will give Redfin a new level of strategic thinking, and access to Rocket resources. The support we’ve already gotten since joining Rocket has let us innovate faster than ever.”

Varun Krishna steps in for now

According to Kelman’s post, Krishna will run Redfin until they find someone to fill the vacant role. Kelman’s last day in the office will be this Friday, but he said he will be available until April 1 to support Krishna and the teams at Rocket and Redfin.

On stage at HousingWire’s The Gathering last June, Kelman spoke on a panel alongside Krishna and Jay Bray, the CEO of another Rocket acquisition, Mr. Cooper. 

Kelman described the merger of the three firms as “a chance to redfine homebuying in the consumer’s favor.” 

“We’ve been at it for a long time. … People under 40 don’t believe they have a shot at owning a home,” Kelman said. “That seems like a fundamental revolution in the American mindset, and I want to spend my professional life working to make that better.”

Prior to his time at Redfin, Kelman was a co-founder and executive at Plumtree Software, which was later acquired by Oracle.