Robert Reffkin | |
---|---|
Born | June 7, 1979 |
Nationality | American |
Education | Columbia University (BA, MBA) |
Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Compass, Inc. |
Robert L. Reffkin [1] is an American entrepreneur who co-founded the online real estate brokerage Compass, Inc. and serves as the company's CEO. [2]
Reffkin is African American and Jewish and grew up in Berkeley, California. [3] His father was an African American man from Louisiana, who already had two children, and shortly after Reffkin was born abandoned him and his mother. [4] Emigrating from Israel at age 7, his mother Ruth Reffkin, after having her son, was disowned by her family after learning that their grandson was of African American descent. [5] Since his mother never married his biological father, his mother gave Reffkin his last name, from her first marriage to Gene Reffkin, also Reffkin's Godfather. [5] His father, a jazz musician, [6] passed away when he was 11 years old. [7]
Through A Better Chance, he was matched with and enrolled in San Francisco University High School, where he also delivered its 2021 commencement address. [7] [8] In 1994, Reffkin started his first business at age 15—a DJ company funded by his bar mitzva and babysitting savings. [7] He was involved with the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship as a teenager. [7]
In 2000, Reffkin graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in under two years. [7] After graduating from Columbia, he worked for McKinsey & Company from 2000 to 2002 before returning to school and graduated from Columbia Business School with a M.B.A. in 2003. [7] [9] At the time of his hiring, he was the youngest analyst hired by McKinsey. [1] [10]
He then moved into investment banking and spent two years working for Lazard. [7] [11] Between 2005 and 2006, Reffkin was a White House Fellow and worked for Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow. [1] He returned to investment banking afterwards as a vice president for Goldman Sachs, becoming chief of staff for President and COO Gary Cohn. [12] [13]
In 2007, Reffkin began a nonprofit, New York Needs You (now America Needs You) to mentor low-income college students. He did a $1 million fundraising by running a marathon in each of the 50 states in the United States and launched NYNY in 2009. [6] [14]
In 2012, he co-founded the online real estate technology company Compass, Inc. with Ori Allon. [2] The inspiration for his business came from his mother, who suffered hardships working as a real estate agent. [9] [15] Reffkin was inspired to use technology to improve the ability of agents to build their brand, analyze data, and conduct market research to make their business more efficient and profitable. [16] In April 2021, Compass, Inc. went public and, according to Black Enterprise, Reffkin was projected to become America's youngest black billionaire. [17] [18] His net worth stood at $500 million following the IPO of his company. [19]
Reffkin worked with Peter Koechley, Upworthy co-founder and former managing editor of The Onion, in writing the book No One Succeeds Alone: Learn Everything You Can from Everyone You Can, published in 2021. [20]
Robert Reffkin | |
---|---|
Born | June 7, 1979 |
Nationality | American |
Education | Columbia University (BA, MBA) |
Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Compass, Inc. |
Robert L. Reffkin [1] is an American entrepreneur who co-founded the online real estate brokerage Compass, Inc. and serves as the company's CEO. [2]
Reffkin is African American and Jewish and grew up in Berkeley, California. [3] His father was an African American man from Louisiana, who already had two children, and shortly after Reffkin was born abandoned him and his mother. [4] Emigrating from Israel at age 7, his mother Ruth Reffkin, after having her son, was disowned by her family after learning that their grandson was of African American descent. [5] Since his mother never married his biological father, his mother gave Reffkin his last name, from her first marriage to Gene Reffkin, also Reffkin's Godfather. [5] His father, a jazz musician, [6] passed away when he was 11 years old. [7]
Through A Better Chance, he was matched with and enrolled in San Francisco University High School, where he also delivered its 2021 commencement address. [7] [8] In 1994, Reffkin started his first business at age 15—a DJ company funded by his bar mitzva and babysitting savings. [7] He was involved with the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship as a teenager. [7]
In 2000, Reffkin graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in under two years. [7] After graduating from Columbia, he worked for McKinsey & Company from 2000 to 2002 before returning to school and graduated from Columbia Business School with a M.B.A. in 2003. [7] [9] At the time of his hiring, he was the youngest analyst hired by McKinsey. [1] [10]
He then moved into investment banking and spent two years working for Lazard. [7] [11] Between 2005 and 2006, Reffkin was a White House Fellow and worked for Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow. [1] He returned to investment banking afterwards as a vice president for Goldman Sachs, becoming chief of staff for President and COO Gary Cohn. [12] [13]
In 2007, Reffkin began a nonprofit, New York Needs You (now America Needs You) to mentor low-income college students. He did a $1 million fundraising by running a marathon in each of the 50 states in the United States and launched NYNY in 2009. [6] [14]
In 2012, he co-founded the online real estate technology company Compass, Inc. with Ori Allon. [2] The inspiration for his business came from his mother, who suffered hardships working as a real estate agent. [9] [15] Reffkin was inspired to use technology to improve the ability of agents to build their brand, analyze data, and conduct market research to make their business more efficient and profitable. [16] In April 2021, Compass, Inc. went public and, according to Black Enterprise, Reffkin was projected to become America's youngest black billionaire. [17] [18] His net worth stood at $500 million following the IPO of his company. [19]
Reffkin worked with Peter Koechley, Upworthy co-founder and former managing editor of The Onion, in writing the book No One Succeeds Alone: Learn Everything You Can from Everyone You Can, published in 2021. [20]