Opendoor Technologies (OPEN) shares climbed as much as 8% in early Friday trading after the home-flipping company announced that CEO Carrie Wheeler is stepping down, effective immediately.
The board has named chief technology and product officer Shrisha Radhakrishna as president and interim leader while it searches for a permanent CEO. Wheeler, who became CEO in December 2022 after replacing co-founder Eric Wu, previously served as the company’s CFO and sat on its board.
The Board has elected Eric Feder, President of LenX, Lennar Homes’ strategic investing arm, as Lead Independent Director.
Since going public via a SPAC merger in 2020, Opendoor has yet to post a profitable quarter. In May, it received a Nasdaq delisting warning after its stock traded below $1 for more than 30 days. Still, shares have surged over 200% in the past month, fueled in part by EMJ Capital founder Eric Jackson — known for spotting Carvana’s turnaround — and retail traders on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum. Jackson disclosed a long position in Opendoor in mid-July, when shares were still under $1.
Calls for a leadership change have grown louder in recent weeks from Jackson, other shareholders, and even co-founder Keith Rabois. “Not a single founder nor executive who built Opendoor to an IPO or billions of free cash flow or $18B of market cap supports Carrie as CEO nor Pueo,” Rabois said, referencing board member Pueo Keffer.
The leadership shake-up follows a 20% plunge in Opendoor’s stock last Thursday after a weak earnings forecast. Jackson told Yahoo Finance the CEO and CFO’s communication on the call was “really awful.” Year-to-date, Opendoor shares are still up about 100%.
The CEO search is well underway.
“The company is well positioned to focus on its considerable data and unique assets in today’s high-tech AI world. The Board has confidence in the Opendoor team and has conviction in the strategy, including scaling Key Connections, the rollout of Cash Plus across our markets and continuous improvement of our core cash-offer business, and believes the company is creating long-term value for customers, agents and shareholders,” said Mr. Feder.
“We are deeply grateful for Carrie’s leadership and dedication to Opendoor over the past six years – first as a board member, then taking us public as CFO, and finally as our CEO,” added Mr. Feder. “Carrie has always operated with the highest integrity and leaves this company in a stronger position than when she took it over.”
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