Former Meta Executive Named Redfin CEO

Redfin has appointed Alessio Sanfilippo as its new chief executive officer, the company announced Monday. The move comes roughly seven months after the real estate brokerage’s previous leader, Glenn Kelman, stepped down. Rocket Companies, Redfin’s parent firm, confirmed the hiring in a statement that highlighted Sanfilippo’s background in product management and data analytics.

Sanfilippo brings experience from Meta and Intuit

Sanfilippo joins Redfin from Meta, where he served as vice president of Insights for Reality Labs. In addition to that role, he previously led WhatsApp as a vice president, overseeing a period when the messaging service reached more than 100 million monthly active users in the United States. Prior to his tenure at the social media giant, he held vice presidential roles in the data and analytics department at Intuit, a financial‑technology company known for products such as TurboTax and QuickBooks. Rocket’s press release emphasized that his career spans more than two decades of product, data, analytics, and technology leadership, often centered on artificial‑intelligence initiatives designed to simplify complex consumer experiences.

Rocket CEO Varun Krishna, who had been serving as interim CEO since January, described Sanfilippo as an analytical thinker who uses technology to serve large audiences. “I worked with Alessio at Intuit and saw firsthand how he combines deep analytical thinking with a real instinct for the consumer,” Krishna said. “He has spent his career using data and technology to make complex products work better for enormous audiences. Now he gets to bring that experience to Redfin and help us connect home search, brokerage, mortgage, closing and servicing into one experience.”

Sanfilippo will be tasked with integrating Redfin’s home search, brokerage, mortgage, closing, and servicing operations under a unified platform. The integration plan, outlined in the announcement, aims to streamline the customer journey so that each step—from browsing listings to finalizing a loan—occurs within a single, data‑driven environment. By leveraging the analytical frameworks he refined at Meta and Intuit, he is expected to enhance the predictive capabilities of Redfin’s search algorithms, personalize property recommendations, and accelerate the processing of mortgage applications.

The incoming CEO is a self‑proclaimed longtime customer of the brokerage. He expressed enthusiasm about combining Redfin’s established systems with Rocket’s capabilities to simplify the home‑buying process. “Redfin has always helped make an intimidating process easier to understand,” Sanfilippo said. “I’m excited to work with this team to make finding, buying and owning a home simpler for millions of people.” His personal experience as a user adds a consumer‑focused perspective that complements his data‑centric background.

Related: ERA leadership reshuffle, FirstTeam appoints new CMO

Glenn Kelman steps down after two decades

Sanfilippo steps into a role that was occupied by Glenn Kelman for over 20 years. He led the company until his departure last year. He recently joined venture capital firm Greylock as an executive in residence to work with founders on leadership development.

Despite leaving the day‑to‑day operations, Kelman remains active in the sector. He told Real Estate News in an email that he is “still looking to start some kind of new mission‑driven enterprise.”

Kelman’s tenure is often remembered for his charismatic public presence and for pioneering a model that blended technology with traditional brokerage services. Under his guidance, Redfin introduced commission‑free listings in certain markets, invested heavily in proprietary photography and 3‑D tours, and built a reputation for data transparency that attracted both buyers and sellers. Those foundational choices set the stage for the integrated platform vision that Sanfilippo now inherits.

As Redfin moves forward, the collaboration between Sanfilippo’s data‑driven expertise and the broader resources of Rocket Companies is expected to deepen the company’s technological edge. The strategic emphasis on unifying disparate real‑estate functions reflects a broader industry trend toward end‑to‑end digital experiences, positioning Redfin to compete more aggressively with both legacy brokerages and newer tech‑focused entrants.