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San Francisco

Brent Thomson joins Berkshire Hathaway after Compass exit

She led merger between Compass and Pacific Union in 2018

Berkshire and Hathaway's Brent Thomson
Berkshire and Hathaway's Brent Thomson (Berkshire and Hathaway, Getty)
By
Feb 17, 2023, 12:30 PM

The former COO of Compass California has joined Berkshire Hathaway and will help grow the brokerage’s presence in California and Nevada. 

Brent Thomson will serve as “a strategic advisor” to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties throughout the two states, the brokerage announced on Feb. 16.

Before overseeing operations at Compass, she was COO of San Francisco-based Pacific Union International, which grew into the fifth largest real estate firm in the nation with sales topping $14 billion in 2017. Thomson led the merger between Compass and Pacific Union in 2018 and remained on as COO of Compass California. She will now serve as a strategic advisor and help grow presence in California and Nevada.

One of the reasons Thomson chose Berkshire and Hathaway was because of its reputation of a woman-owned company.

“Their long term reputation as a profitable and well-run company is without question, and I’m excited to join one of the nation’s largest woman-owned real estate brokerages to help expand their reach even further throughout Northern California and Nevada,” Thomson said in a statement. 

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Compass announced a third, and last, round of layoffs at the start of the year. The company will need to reduce its operating yearly expenses to between $850 million and $950 million, the company said in an SEC filing, levels which it believes will allow it to be cash-flow positive by the middle of the year. Thomson was not part of the layoffs. 

“I voluntarily resigned from Compass California 13 months ago to take a year off to travel and spend more time with my family,” Thomson said. “This January, I was ready to re-engage and look seriously at the opportunities coming to me.”

New York-based Compass was the top brokerage nationally in 2021 in terms of sales volume. It is attempting to become profitable for the first time since the market downturn and a pullback from Softbank, its largest investor. 

In the midst of layoffs, Compass has made moves to shore up its California team. The brokerage named 20-year real estate veteran Kevin Patsel as its regional vice president of Northern California last month. 

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