Major shakeup at Compass: CFO and longtime CTO are leaving firm

Craig Anderson spent 7 months as CFO

From left: Robert Reffkin, Maelle Gavet, Craig Anderson and Liming Zhao
From left: Robert Reffkin, Maelle Gavet, Craig Anderson and Liming Zhao

Two of Compass’ key executives — chief financial officer Craig Anderson and longtime chief technology officer Liming Zhao — are leaving the $2 billion startup, the firm said.

Anderson’s departure comes just seven months after he joined the firm. The former COO and CFO of the cycling chain Flywheel, Anderson was hired in August to replace David Snider, one of the startup’s earliest hires, who originally headed up finance and operations but later focused more on securing venture funds for the firm.

Last summer, the board replaced Snider as it began to scale rapidly.

But after a funding windfall — Compass raised $550 million from SoftBank and Fidelity late last year — it is again looking for an executive with experience to match its size.

In a statement Friday, Compass said the decision to part ways with Anderson was “mutually decided.”

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“Craig is a really talented person. I know he will go on to do great things,” CEO Robert Reffkin said.

Compass’ split with Zhao came about when the longtime CTO decided to start his own company outside of real estate.  “As a company of entrepreneurs… this is something we celebrate at Compass,” said Reffkin.

Zhao — who joined Compass in 2013 — was CTO until last month, when he took on the newly-created role of chief information security officer. Compass said the search for a new CTO is underway. It also plans to hire a replacement for the information security role.