Deals
Zillow CEO Steps Down So Rich Barton Can Lead Moonshot Effort
- Hopes to ease investors concern over investment in new segment
- Barton, co-founder of Expedia, Glassdoor, was first Zillow CEO
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Zillow Group Inc. shares gained more than 21 percent after the company, which runs the biggest U.S. home-search website, said Rich Barton would return as top executive in a bid to win investors’ backing for the company’s plan to buy homes and originate mortgages.
The company said Thursday after markets closed that Barton, 51, who co-founded the company in 2005 and served as its first chief executive officer, will take over for Spencer Rascoff. The move was announced along with a quarterly earnings report that showed short-term results below analysts’ expectations. Investors had already been skeptical of Zillow’s transformation of its business.