His birthday is October 8, 1980, and he will be 45 years old in 2025. Probably the most well-known thing about him is that he helped start Compass Inc., which is a big name in real estate technology. Using technology to change the real estate business, Reffkin helped Compass grow into one of the biggest independent firms in the U.S., which earned him a lot of attention. Robert Reffkin net worth is thought to be at least $64 million as of 2025. This is mostly due to the fact that he owns a lot of Compass stock millions of shares worth tens of millions of dollars each.
He was a White House Fellow and held high-level jobs at Goldman Sachs before starting Compass. Even though Reffkin is well-known in the business world, he keeps his personal life pretty quiet. He continues to focus on driving innovation and growth at Compass instead of leaving the corporate world.
Social Profiles
Quick Bio
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Robert Reffkin |
| Born | June 7, 1979 |
| Age (in 2025) | 45-46 years old |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, CEO, Author |
| Current Title | Founder & CEO of Compass, a leading real estate technology company |
| Notable Achievements | Built Compass into #1 real estate brokerage in U.S. by sales volume; led company IPO in 2021 |
| Previous Roles | White House Fellow (Dept. of Treasury), Goldman Sachs (Chief of Staff to President/COO), Lazard (M&A Associate), McKinsey & Company (Business Analyst) |
| Education | B.A. in Economics-Philosophy and History, Columbia University; MBA in Finance and Management, Columbia Business School |
| Personal Life | Married, father of three; inspired by his mother, a longtime real estate agent |
| Philanthropy | Founder of America Needs You, mentoring low-income, first-generation college students; ran 50 marathons raising $1 million for charity |
| Book | No One Succeeds Alone: Learn Everything You Can From Everyone You Can |
Robert Reffkin Net Worth in 2025
Robert Reffkin’s net worth is thought to be around $64 million as of 2025. This is mostly because he owns about 7.8 million shares of Compass Inc. stock and is Chairman and CEO of the company. Due to his insider stock trades and share sales over the past few years, different sites give different estimates of his net worth. Some recent estimates put his total net worth at around $64 million or more, based on the value of his Compass shares alone. Other insider trading data says it could be as high as $134 million, depending on the value of his stocks and recent sales.
| Year | Estimated Net Worth | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 (IPO) | ~$500 million | After Compass IPO, owned about 6% of shares; stock valuation around $8 billion |
| 2022 | Less than $150 million | Compass stock price plunged about 70%, net worth dropped accordingly |
| 2025 (early) | About $64 million | Estimated based on ownership of ~7.8 million shares of Compass; stock value varies by data source and date |
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Business Ventures and Income Sources
Business Ventures
- Co-founder, Chairman: And CEO of Compass Inc is Robert Reffkin. Compass is a leading real estate technology business that specializes in residential real estate brokerage. Since it started in 2013, Compass has grown to become the biggest independent company in the U.S. by sales volume. It has stayed there for several years in a row by making big purchases and growing its market share.
- Acquisitions and Growth: Between 2024 and early 2025, Reffkin was in charge of Compass and it bought big real estate companies like @properties, the Christie’s International Real Estate business, Parks Real Estate, and Latter & Blum. These changes made Compass’s reach across the country bigger and added the Compass Resort network of luxury vacation homes. They also opened up franchise and foreign markets for the company.
- Technology and Innovation: Compass puts a lot of money into technology. For example, they put $1.8 billion into an AI-powered tool that helps real estate agents from the search phase to the closing phase. This new technology gives Compass an edge over its competitors when it comes to customer service and worker productivity.
Income Sources
- Ownership in Compass: Most of Reffkin’s income and wealth come from his stock stake in Compass. He has benefited from the company’s growth, acquisitions, and rising market value. Compass’s financial performance in 2025 shows record quarterly revenue growth (28.7% YoY in Q1), record free cash flow, and steady gains in market share. This makes his wealth even greater because it is tied to the success of the company.
- Leadership Roles: As CEO and Chairman, Reffkin gets paid a salary, bonuses, and other benefits that depend on how well the company does.
- Public Speaking and Writing: Reffkin also makes money and builds his image by giving keynote speeches, hosting leadership events, and writing books, like No One Succeeds Alone, in which he shares lessons on how to be an entrepreneur.
Real State Ownership and Properties
Robert Reffkin’s story as a personal real estate owner is more about his early life and his family than about a big portfolio of properties. In the 1970s, his mother bought a house in Berkeley, California, with the help of three other people in a unique deal. Over time, she bought out the other people’s shares and sold the house for more than $1 million. She now regrets not hanging on to it longer because its value has gone up so much. Robert learned a lot about the value and stability that come with owning a home from his early years living in a family house.
Even though Robert Reffkin doesn’t own real estate himself, he is the founder and CEO of Compass, a large real estate technology company and brokerage that has grown by buying other large brokerages and now has offices all over the country. His business power and net worth come mostly from Compass’s brokerage and tech platform, not from his own real estate interests.
Personal Life

Family Background
- He was born in Berkeley, California, on June 7, 1979.
- Ruth Reffkin, his mother, is an immigrant from Israel, and his father, an African American jazz singer from Louisiana, left the family soon after Robert was born.
- Because he was born to parents of different races, his mother was kicked out by her family, which made their early problems even worse.
- Robert was raised by a single mother in a tough financial situation.
Siblings
- Robert was raised as an only child, so no one outside of his family knows about his brothers.
Marriage and Children
- It is known that Robert Reffkin is married and has children, but not who his wife is or how many children he has.
Early Life and Personal Struggles
- As a kid, Robert had trouble figuring out who he was and feeling like he didn’t belong because he was mixed-race.
- He showed early signs of being a business by saving money for three years to buy DJ gear to help his mother with money.
Current Focus and Interests
- Robert is the CEO and founder of Compass. He is also a philanthropist, the founder of the charity America Needs You, and an author.
- He is known for running races to raise money for charity and helping first-generation college students.
Career Journey
- Early career and education (1997–2003): From 1997 to 1999, Reffkin went to Columbia University and got a B.A. in Economics, Philosophy, and History. From 2002 to 2003, he got an MBA in Finance and Management. He was the youngest business analyst hired by McKinsey & Company (1999–2001) when he was young.
- Investment banking and a fellowship at the White House from 2003 to 2012: After leaving McKinsey, he worked at Lazard in the mergers and acquisitions group from 2003 to 2005. As a White House Fellow from 2005 to 2006, he worked as John W. Snow’s special assistant at the U.S. Treasury. He worked his way up at Goldman Sachs from 2006 to 2012, becoming Chief of Staff to CEO Gary Cohn and Vice President in the Principal Investment Area.
- Giving back: In 2007, Reffkin started the charity organization New York Needs You (now America Needs You) to help first-generation, low-income college students. He ran races in all 50 U.S. states to raise $1 million for charity.
- Starting a business with Compass (2012–present): co-founded Compass with Ori Allon in October 2012 after seeing how hard it was for his mother to deal with real estate problems. By adding technology, he has since led Compass to change the real estate business and make it the biggest independent real estate agency in the U.S. by sales volume. When the company went public in April 2021, it was worth many billions of dollars. Compass grew across the country, made important acquisitions, and put a lot of money into AI-powered real estate systems while he was in charge.
Struggles with Mental Health, Addiction & Homelessness
Mental Health Struggles
- Along the way, Robert Reffkin had some mental health problems, but they weren’t a big part of the public’s attention. He has dealt with worry and setbacks in the past, like losing a lot of money in 2000, which led to therapy and medication to help him handle things.
- After giving birth to their second child, his wife had postpartum depression and went to treatment, which made her want to start a life coaching business. The fact that they are honest about their mental health problems with their family shows that they are aware of and care about these problems.
- In public, Reffkin has talked about how important it is to get mental health help, stressing the need for setting boundaries, building support systems, and taking care of oneself in order to stay mentally stable.
Addiction and Homelessness
- Public records and news stories don’t show that Robert Reffkin personally struggled with addiction or homelessness, but his father was an African American jazz musician who left the family and had drug issues.
- Reffkin’s upbringing by a single mother who had to deal with a lot of problems, including racial and economic ones, made him strong and driven, but it didn’t include public stories of being homeless.
Context of Overcoming Adversity
- As a child, Reffkin had to deal with a lot of problems caused by race, family breakdown, and money problems. Some of these are being mixed-race and having to deal with racism, a broken family, and not having enough money early in life.
- Even with these problems, Reffkin says that a lot of his success comes from having a network of mentors, family support, and mental and emotional toughness. This shows that “no one succeeds alone.”
Public Perception & Media Coverage
Positive Financial and Growth Coverage
- Under Reffkin’s leadership, Compass had its best-ever quarterly results in Q2 2025, with record revenue growth of 21.1% to $2.06 billion and a 20.9% increase in closed deals, doing much better than the market as a whole despite tough conditions.
- As a result of Reffkin’s visionary leadership, Compass’s agent base grew by 23.3% year-over-year to nearly 21,000, which set a business record.
- Notes for press Reffkin’s focus on investing in technology, such as AI systems, is a big part of what gives Compass its edge in the real estate brokerage market and leads to new ideas.
Industry Leadership and Advocacy
- Reffkin openly criticizes big real estate groups like the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Multiple Listing Services (MLSs), and portals like Zillow for having strict rules on listing homes and controlling how agents market them.
- People see his strong opposition to these groups as a fight for real estate agents’ and sellers’ freedom of choice in the housing market. He wants to free real estate marketing from what he calls “control” and “mandatory rules.”
Criticism and Controversy
- Many people praise Reffkin for standing up for agent freedom, but his hostile behavior toward MLSs, NAR, and websites has caused debate in the real estate community, as these groups disagree with Compass’s methods and rules regarding private exclusivities and listing openness.
- The media has talked a lot about this ongoing fight, which has made Reffkin known as both a visionary leader and a controversial figure in the industry.
Personal Media Presence
- Reffkin stays in touch with the media through interviews, major speeches, and social media, where he talks about the progress of his company and how he thinks the future of real estate will be shaped.
- People have talked about his keynote speeches, like the one he gave at the 2025 Compass national retreat in Denver. As important events that emphasized his goal to give agents power and encourage new ideas through technology.
FAQs
How much is Robert Reffkin worth in 2025?
Based on how many shares he owns in Compass and how much they are worth on the market right now. His net worth is about $64 as of 2025 , with changes occurring due to share sales and unstable stock prices.
What percent of Compass does Robert Reffkin own?
He has about 6.3% of the economic shares of the company, but thanks to his Class C shares, which give him more votes, he has almost 46% of the voting power.
How much does Robert Reffkin make annually?
In 2024, his base wage was $900,000. He also got bonuses of up to $7 million and a lot of equity compensation. Which added up to a big and changing total pay package.
Conclusion
Robert Reffkin is a well-known figure at the point where real estate and technology meet. He built Compass into a major brokerage platform that is changing the business. His net worth, which is mostly based on the large amount of shares he owns in Compass. Shows both how successful he has been as an entrepreneur and how volatile startup stock markets can be. As a senior leader, Reffkin makes a base salary of $900,000, which is boosted by big bonuses and stock awards. His pay is in line with the company’s growth.
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