Zillow CEO Rich Barton: ‘The real pain is probably coming’
Zillow, which had $3.4 billion in cash and investments as of the end of 2022, is well prepared for any storm, including banking implications, Barton said in a new interview Thursday.
The writing on the wall is clear: Tough economic times are ahead, Zillow CEO Rich Barton predicted in a new interview published Thursday.
But among the warnings of further housing turmoil, there is a silver lining to Barton’s outlook: financial opportunity.
“I really love the storm,” Barton told website GeekWire in an extensive interview that also touched on the health of Zillow as a company, the decision to shut down the iBuying Zillow Offers platform, and his own early career. “Warren Buffett likes to say you don’t know who swims naked until the tide goes down. A lot of people are swimming naked right now, at risk.”
Barton said Zillow, which had $3.4 billion in cash and investments as of the end of 2022 and boasts nearly 200 million monthly visitors to its websites, is well prepared for any storm, including the banking consequences caused by the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature, which is still unfolding now.
“A lot of rubbish is being washed out to sea,” he told GeekWire, referring not only to the banking whip, but to interest rates hitting a 20-year high and layoffs across all sectors of the economy. “And if you represent an organization or a company that wears a bathing suit and a wetsuit, you are doing well. And that’s how I feel right now.”
“Now I really feel better than ever,” added Barton.
Zillow reported fourth-quarter revenue of $435 million, beating most analysts’ estimates and cutting its net loss to $72 million.
The company’s revenue was 19 percent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2021 — the same quarter that the company closed its fledgling iBuying Zillow Offers before the iBuying sector began to buckle under the weight of higher interest rates that forced Zillow competitor Redfin to close. . his iBuyer RedfinNow almost a year later.
“Fortunately, we were ahead of what happened in the housing market this year,” Barton said. “I feel very good about this decision.”
As for the broader economy, Barton believes recent layoffs in the tech sector, including the elimination of 10,000 positions at parent company Facebook Meta, signal that the real tough times are yet to come.
“The real pain will probably come,” he said. “All organizations need to be prepared for this.”
Barton said he relishes the opportunity to lead through challenging times as he looks back on his tech career, which included co-founding travel giant Expedia, company review site Glassdoor and travel photography website Trover.
“What I love most is when I’m deep in the trenches in a crisis with a team of people I love and we’re doing something important,” he said.
Barton drew a comparison to the “swing” made by the University of Washington men’s crew team at the 1936 Olympics, which narrowly defeated Germany and Italy even though there was little chance of bringing home a gold medal, to describe the feeling of success. do business on troubled waters.
“It’s like magic, lightness and euphoria,” he told GeekWire.
Speaking about his work mentoring young entrepreneurs, Bartson said he tries to act as a “ballast weight” in both good times and bad.
“You know, this too shall pass. We’ll get through this,” he tells his charges. “Do the right thing, communicate clearly, don’t hide anything, get it out to the people, gather the right people around you, and you’ll get through it.”
According to Barton, the most effective leaders are happy when times are tough.
“I really think that in inclement weather leaders are happiest,” he said. “This is when the value of what we do as leaders is high.”
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