Spencer Rascoff
Spencer Rascoff (born October 24, 1975) is an investor, entrepreneur and company leader. Spencer is the co-founder & executive chairman of dot.LA, a news and events company based in Los Angeles. He also is the co-founder and former CEO of Zillow Group, and one of the co-founders of Hotwire.com. Rascoff is on the board of directors of Zillow Group, TripAdvisor and Hutch. Additionally, Rascoff is a professor at Harvard Business School and hosts the "Office Hours" podcast.
Early life and education
Rascoff was born to his mother (Jane) and father (Joseph) who was a business manager and tour producer for numerous well known musicians including The Rolling Stones, U2, and Paul Simon.[1] Rascoff grew up in New York and then Los Angeles, where he attended Harvard-Westlake. He received his A.B. from Harvard University.
Career
After graduating from college, Rascoff worked as a private equity investor at TPG Capital and as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, and Allen & Company.
In 1999, at the age of 24, Rascoff co-founded Hotwire.com, a leading Internet travel company, which a few years later he sold to InterActiveCorp (the parent company of Expedia). He then served as vice president of lodging for Expedia before leaving to co-found Zillow.[2]
Rascoff served various roles through the years including chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and VP of Marketing until his appointment to CEO in 2010.[3] As CEO, Rascoff has led Zillow through its 2011 IPO and 15 acquisitions. In 2017, Spencer was named "The Most Powerful Person in Residential Real Estate" by the Swanepoel Power 200.[4] Spencer was also awarded Glassdoor’s Highest Rated CEO recognition for 2017.[5] He was named one of America’s 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under by Forbes magazine in 2012[6] and 2013.[7] Rascoff stepped down as CEO in February 2019.[8] In April 2020, Rascoff resigned from Zillow's board of directors.[9][10]
Other projects
In 2015, he co-wrote and published his first book, the New York Times’ Best Seller “Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate.”[11] Rascoff is also the host of “Office Hours,” a podcast featuring candid conversations between prominent executives on leadership and management topics. Rascoff and his young son, Luke Rascoff, have a podcast called "Dad I have a question". He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
Personal life
Rascoff lives in Los Angeles and is married to Dr. Nanci Rascoff, with three children.
References
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/business/media/joseph-rascoff-dead-business-manager-for-rolling-stones.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/realestate/commercial/spencer-rascoff.html
- http://www.zillowgroup.com/leadership/. Missing or empty
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(help) - Stiles, Marc (Jan 9, 2017). "Report names Zillow CEO the most powerful person in real estate". Puget Sound Business Journal.
- "Highest Rated CEOs". Glassdoor.
- Smith, Jacquelyn. "America's 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under". Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- Smith, Jacquelyn. "America's Most Powerful CEOs 40 And Under". Retrieved 27 January 2014..
- Salinas, Sara (2019-02-21). "Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff is out — co-founder Rich Barton is taking over". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "Spencer Rascoff Leaves Zillow Board - The Real Deal". The Real Deal New York. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "Spencer Rascoff departs Zillow Group board, 1 year after stepping down as CEO". GeekWire. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - February 22, 2015 - The New York Times". Retrieved 2018-03-15.