Keller Williams Realty

Keller Williams was founded in 1983 by Gary Keller and Joe Williams.{{cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Marilyn D.|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Real Estate Agent|date=2006|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781592575657|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu00sull_0}} It started out as a single office based in Austin, Texas, selling local residential real estate in the Austin area.{{cite news|last=Weingartner|first=Nancy|title=Keller Williams has sales associates dive into the profit-sharing pool|newspaper=Franchise Times|date=1999}} After two years in business, Keller Williams became the largest single office residential real estate firm in Austin with 72 licensed agents.{{cite news|last=Simmons|first=Lee|title=Realtor saw opportunity in adversity|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1998/05/25/focus2.html?page=all|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Austin Business Journal|date=24 May 1998}} In the mid-1980s, the company suffered from the United States housing bubble and began to offer profit sharing to existing and potential associates in order to retain agents and help get through the recession. Within a year, the company grew to 130 agents and began to climb back as the top real estate broker in Austin.

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In the early 1990s, Keller Williams expanded outside of the state of Texas, opening up its business model to franchising beginning in 1991. It opened an office in Oklahoma in 1993, marking the firm's first office to be located outside of its home state. The Oklahoma office was later recognized as the most successful single real estate office in that state. Keller Williams expanded at a rapid rate throughout the United States, much of which was attributed to its commission split for agents.{{cite news|last=Pleasant|first=Rachel|title=New Realty Goes for Brokers|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=20030910&id=kLtNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6089,5868458|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Lakeland Ledger|date=10 September 2003}} In 1997 the company was recognized by being on the Franchise Gold 100 list by Success Magazine.{{cite news|last=Vyas|first=Charul|title=Success finds Keller Williams, Schlotzskys|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/1997/11/17/story7.html|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Austin Business Journal|date=16 November 1997}} As it moved into the next century, Keller Williams became the 6th largest real estate agency in the U.S. An example of its rapid expansion came in the state of Florida where in 2004 it was attributed as the largest real estate office in Polk County with 114 agents.{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Joan|title=With 114 Realtors, Keller Williams Realty is now biggest real estate firm in Polk County|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=20040918&id=SkBOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3727,6866678|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Lakeland Ledger|date=18 September 2004}} That same year, it was attributed as the fastest growing real estate office in the entire state with 45 market centers, bringing its total nationwide agent count to over 30,000.{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Joan|title=Keller Williams Takes Off All Over Florida|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=20040619&id=VQswAAAAIBAJ&pg=4358,7929563|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Lakeland Ledger|date=19 June 2004}}

Keller Williams continued expanding and in 2007, the company launched Luxury Homes by Keller Williams, a division within the company that brokers luxury only real estate.{{cite news|title=Keller Williams Realty Announces Luxury Homes Program – Opens doors to high-end market in Saint Louis MO|url=http://www.stlouisrealestatetoday.com/blog/keller-williams-realty-announces-luxury-homes-program-opens-doors-to-the-high-end-market-in-saint-louis-mo/|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=St. Louis Real Estate Today|date=12 September 2007}} In 2008, it launched KW Commercial, a division providing commercial real estate associates with specialized technology, marketing tools, and resources.{{cite news|last=Cronan|first=Carl|title=Keller Williams expands into commercial arena, taps agents for leads|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2007/06/18/focus7.html?page=all|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Tampa Bay Business Journal|date=18 June 2007}} The division is known for allowing agents to keep more commission splits. It also allowed profit sharing similar to residential agents. As of 2012, the division boasted more than 1,000 brokers nationally.{{cite news|title=Jeff Rohn Named Managing Director of the KW Commercial Peninsula Office|url=http://news.theregistrysf.com/jeff-rohn-named-managing-director-of-the-kw-commercial-peninsula-office/|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=The Registry|date=4 June 2012}}

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By the end of the decade in 2010, Keller Williams had 77,672 real estate agents in the United States. It surpassed Century 21 as the second largest real estate agency in the U.S., two years after taking over the third spot from RE/MAX International.{{cite news|last=Egan|first=John|title=Austin's Keller Williams targets global expansion|newspaper=The Examiner|date=8 March 2001}} Between 2005 and 2011, the company saw a 40 percent increase in the number of offices in North America. Keller Williams went international in 2012, launching Keller Williams Worldwide as a subdivision to manage its international franchising. It awarded its first overseas franchise in Vietnam in 2012. The same year, franchising of the company was made available in Indonesia and Southern Africa, and in 2013 expanded to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.{{cite news|last=Garrison|first=Trey|title=Keller Williams posts major growth, plans Dubai office|url=http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29006-keller-williams-posts-major-growth-plans-dubai-office|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Housing Wire|date=18 February 2014}}

At the end of April 2014, Keller Williams reached 100,575 agents worldwide.{{cite news|title=Keller Williams tops 100K agents worldwide|url=http://www.inman.com/2014/05/07/keller-williams-tops-100k-agents-worldwide/#.U3qa7iirWWM|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Inman|date=7 May 2014}} This was due to an 18 percent increase in agents in 2013. As of 2014, it is the largest real estate franchise by agent count in North America and the only privately held global residential real estate brokerage.{{cite news|last=Buchholz|first=Jan|title=Keller Williams hits milestone with 100,575 agents worldwide|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/blog/real-estate/2014/05/keller-williams-hits-milestone-with-100-575-agents.html?page=all|access-date=16 May 2014|newspaper=Austin Business Journal|date=8 May 2014}}{{cite news|last=Gupta|first=Rapti|title=Keller Williams Realty Ranked #1 by Agent Count in US|url=http://www.realtytoday.com/articles/3571/20130218/keller-williams-realty-ranked-1-agent-count.htm|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Realty Today|date=18 February 2013}} In 2014, the company also announced the opening of a region in Dubai.{{cite news|last=Hunt|first=Angela|title=Keller Williams taps Manhattan exec to run operation in Dubai|url=http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/15/keller-williams-taps-manhattan-exec-to-run-operation-in-dubai/|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=The Real Deal|date=15 April 2014}} The first Dubai franchise was awarded to a leadership group affiliated with IFA Hotels & Resorts which is considered the largest foreign investor in Palm Jumeirah.{{cite news|last=Sambidge|first=Andy|title=Largest US real estate franchise to launch ops in Dubai|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/largest-us-real-estate-franchise-launch-ops-in-dubai-546448.html|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Arabian Business|date=14 April 2014}}

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Keller Williams topped $67.1 billion in sales volume in 2016, up 22 percent from the previous year.{{cite news|last1=Taufen|first1=Amber|title=Keller Williams agents grew sales volume by 22% in 2016|url=https://www.inman.com/2017/01/19/keller-williams-agents-grew-sales-volume-22-2016/|access-date= 11 June 2018| publisher=Inman|date=19 January 2017}} The company began to position itself as a technology company in 2017. In 2017 it launched KW Labs, a division of the company process devoted to the building and testing of technology created by the company alongside its agents. This was in addition to KW Keller Cloud.{{cite news |last1=Abraham |first1=Rincey |title=Keller Williams Hopes to Become the Amazon of Real Estate |url=https://miamiagentmagazine.com/2018/03/01/keller-williams-hopes-become-amazon-real-estate/ |access-date=11 June 2018 |publisher=Miami Agent Magazine |date=1 March 2018}} It also introduced "Kelle", an artificial intelligence app which has been referred to as Siri but for real estate used as a virtual assistant, and an agent-to-agent referral tools platform called "Referrals".{{cite news|last1=Luck|first1=Marissa|title=Keller Williams' growing army of agents eclipses most cities' populations|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/05/04/keller-williams-growing-army-of-agents-eclipses.html|access-date=11 June 2018|publisher=Austin Business Journal|date=4 May 2018}} Keller Williams claims it is the number one franchise in the United States by sales volume in 2017, ranking number one in agents and units sold in 2017.{{cite news |last1=Solomont |first1=E.B. |title=Keller Williams claims it's now the No. 1 franchise in the US |url=https://therealdeal.com/2018/01/31/keller-williams-claims-its-now-the-no-1-franchise-in-the-us/ |access-date=15 June 2018 |publisher=The Real Deal |date=31 January 2018}}[https://outfront.kw.com/performance/keller-williams-continues-to-reign-as-the-no-1-real-estate-franchise/ KW Press Release claiming largest]

Keller Williams continued expansion into South America in 2018, opening franchises in Argentina, and adding to already existing locations in Colombia, Belize, Nicaragua, and Panama.{{cite news |last1=Bondarenko |first1=Veronika |title=Keller Williams continues South America expansion with new Argentina branch |url=https://www.inman.com/2018/04/05/keller-williams-continues-south-america-expansion-with-new-argentina-branch/ |access-date=20 June 2018 |publisher=Inman |date=5 April 2018}} It also expanded to Cambodia as well as Belgium and Luxembourg.{{cite news |last1=McPherson |first1=Marian |title=Keller Williams heads to Cambodia |url=https://www.inman.com/2018/08/30/keller-williams-heads-to-cambodia/ |access-date=20 July 2019 |publisher=Inman |date=30 August 2018}} Gary Keller replaced John Davis as CEO of the company in 2019, adding to his already title of Chairman of the company.{{cite news |title=Gary Keller returns as CEO of nation's largest realty company |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2019/01/09/gary-keller-returns-as-ceo-of-nations-largest.html |access-date=9 January 2019 |publisher=Austin Business Journal |date=9 January 2019}} The same year the company expanded into Morocco.{{cite news |title=Next stop for Keller Williams? Morocco |url=https://therealdeal.com/national/2019/06/02/next-stop-for-keller-williams-morocco/ |access-date=21 July 2019 |publisher=The Real Deal |date=4 June 2019}}

Keller Williams formed KWx in 2020, a holding company to oversee its portfolio of companies. It named Carl Liebert as the new CEO of the group with Gary Keller becoming the executive chairman.{{cite news |last1=Finley |first1=Marty |title=Keller Williams has reorganized. Its new CEO is from Southern Indiana. |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2020/10/13/carl-liebert.html |access-date=19 October 2020 |publisher=Biz Journals |date=13 October 2020}} Josh Team also left Keller Williams with Marc King being promoted to the role of president.{{cite news |last1=Kearns |first1=Patrick |title=READ: Gary Keller's letter to agents announcing changes at KW |url=https://www.inman.com/2021/02/22/read-gary-kellers-letter-to-agents-announcing-changes-at-kw/ |access-date=23 February 2021 |publisher=Inman |date=22 February 2021}}

• Keller Williams Worldwide – Keller Williams Worldwide is responsible for the company's global franchising and expansion.{{cite web |title=About Keller Williams |url=https://www.agentadvice.com/keller-williams/ |website=AgentAdvice.com |date=10 February 2020 |access-date=18 May 2022}}
• KellerINK – KellerINK is the publishing arm of Keller Williams, responsible for the publishing of instructional and inspirational business books with a specialty in real estate. The company published Millionaire Real Estate series and The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. They have sold more than a million books worldwide.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}
• Luxury Homes by Keller Williams – Luxury Homes by Keller Williams is the company's luxury real estate arm.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}
• KW Commercial – Division of Keller Williams responsible for brokering commercial real estate.
• KW Labs - Keller Williams' technology division that develops and test software created by the company.

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Keller Williams operates a charitable arm known as KW Cares which is a nonprofit organization set up to assist both local communities as well as associates of the company and their families deal with hardships and emergencies.{{cite news|last=Sain|first=Cliff|title=More than 200 take part in inaugural 5K|url=http://bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_648426a0-ca5f-11e3-a791-001a4bcf887a.html|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Branson Tri Lake News|date=22 April 2014}} Examples of giving include providing assistance to help fight serious illness or recover from a life altering accident. The organization also donates to various other nonprofits including the Ryan's Well Foundation, Homes For Our Troops, and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.{{cite web|title=What We Do|url=http://www.kwcares.org/what-we-do|publisher=KW Cares|access-date=19 May 2014}}

Beginning in 2009, Keller Williams began organizing a one-day yearly event where all associates spend a day away from the office donating their time to their local communities.{{cite news|last=Baron|first=Sharon Aron|title=Local Business Shuts Down for a Worthy Community Project|url=http://tamaractalk.com/local-business-shuts-down-for-a-worthy-community-project-13135|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Tamarac Talk|date=12 May 2014}} Known among the associates as RED Day (Renew, Energize, and Donate), all Keller Williams offices close for the day to take part in the event.{{cite news|title=Keller Williams employees give back, work hard on RED day|url=http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/news/keller-williams-employees-give-back-work-hard-on-red-day/article_a330b225-e80b-53b2-a4d2-47ca786033c2.html|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=The Montgomery County Courier|date=11 May 2014}} Since its inception, associates have been involved with projects that include rebuilding homes, hosting blood drives, giving to local food shelters, and refurbishing local parks.{{cite news|title=Keller Williams marks RED Day with service to SCHFH|url=http://capegazette.villagesoup.com/p/keller-williams-marks-red-day-with-service-to-schfh/1177990|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Cape Gazette|date=13 May 2014}}

Keller Williams has received numerous awards since its inception. In addition to being an Inc. 5000 company, it has been recognized by Inc. as a Top 100 Real Estate Company, placed on the magazine's honor role as a five-time Inc. 5000 Honoree, and receiving an Inc. Hire Power Award.{{cite web|title=Keller Williams Realty|url=http://www.inc.com/profile/keller-williams-realty|publisher=Inc. Magazine|access-date=19 May 2014}} Further recognition has come from Entrepreneur where it has been featured in the magazine's Best of the Best franchise list{{cite news|last=Herold|first=Tracy Stapp|title=Entrepreneur's 2011 Best of the Best Franchises List|url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219539|access-date=19 May 2014|newspaper=Entrepreneur Magazine|date=22 April 2011}} as well as inclusion in their Franchise 500 rankings.{{cite news |last1=Kearns |first1=Patrick |title=Which real estate companies made the 2018 Franchise 500 cut? |url=https://www.inman.com/2018/01/17/which-real-estate-companies-made-the-2018-franchise-500-cut/ |access-date=15 June 2018 |publisher=Inman |date=17 January 2018}} The company was recognized as the number one training company by Training Magazine in 2017; and, inducted into the publication's Training Hall of Fame in 2018.{{cite news|last1=South|first1=Gill|title=LeadingRE ranks first on 'Training' Top 125, Keller Williams inducted into Hall of Fame|url=https://www.inman.com/2018/02/14/leadingre-ranks-first-on-training-top-125-keller-williams-inducted-into-hall-of-fame/|access-date=15 June 2018|publisher=Inman|date=14 February 2018}} In 2018, it was listed as one of the "happiest companies to work for" by Career Bliss as reported by Forbes.{{cite news |last1=Kauflin |first1=Jeff |title=The Happiest Companies to Work for in 2018 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2017/12/03/the-happiest-companies-to-work-for-in-2018/#696d5b9347c2 |access-date=15 June 2018|work=Forbes |date=3 December 2017}}

{{Portal|Companies}}

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• List of companies based in Austin, Texas
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{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.kw.com}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller Williams Realty}}

Category:Real estate services companies of the United States

Category:Companies based in Austin, Texas

Category:Real estate companies established in 1983

Category:1983 establishments in Texas

Category:Franchises