Spencer Rascoff (born October 24, 1975) is an entrepreneur and businessman. He was the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Zillow Group, as well as one of the co-founders of Hotwire.com. Rascoff is on the board of directors of Palantir. Additionally, Rascoff he held the position of Visiting Executive Professor at Harvard Business School where he co-created and co-taught the “Managing Tech Ventures” course.[1]

Early life and education

Rascoff was born to Jane and Joseph Rascoff. His father was a business manager and tour producer for numerous well known musicians including The Rolling Stones, U2, and Paul Simon.[2] Rascoff grew up in New York and then Los Angeles, where he attended Harvard-Westlake. He received a degree in 1997 from Harvard University.[3]

Career

After graduating from college, Rascoff worked as a private equity investor at TPG Capital and also as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.[4]

Hotwire.com

In 1999, at the age of 24, Rascoff co-founded Hotwire.com, a leading Internet travel company, which a few years later was sold to InterActiveCorp for $685 million. Rascoff then served as vice president of lodging for Expedia before leaving to co-found Zillow.[5]

Zillow

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.[6] As CEO, Rascoff led Zillow through its 2011 IPO and 15 acquisitions. In 2017, Rascoff was named "The Most Powerful Person in Residential Real Estate" by the Swanepoel Power 200.[7] Rascoff stepped down from his CEO position in February 2019.[8] In April 2020, Rascoff resigned from Zillow's board of directors.[9][10]

dot.la

In January 2020, Rascoff co-founded dot.la, a news site for the California tech startup industry.[11]

Pacaso

In October 2020, Rascoff co-founded Pacaso alongside Austin Allison. Pacaso is positioned as a real estate platform that makes second home ownership more accessible through shared ownership.[12] Pacaso has been described by some as an alternative take on the timeshare model of property ownership.[13][14][15]

Recon Food

In June 2021, Rascoff co-founded Recon Food with his daughter, Sophia Rascoff. The app uses technology to search a user's camera roll for all previous food-related photos and automatically upload them to the app.[16]

Other projects

In 2015, he co-wrote and published his first book, “Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate.”[17]

References

  1. ↑ Kuhlman, Cara (9 Jul 2020). "Tech Moves: Zillow co-founder joins Palantir board; Hootsuite names new CEO; and more". GeekWire. GeekWire, LLC. Retrieved 12 Nov 2020.
  2. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (11 April 2017). "Joseph Rascoff, Who Had Rolling Stones' Tours Under His Thumb, Dies at 71". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ "Hr97 5th Reunion".
  4. ↑ Cao, Jing (3 August 2014). "Zillow CEO Rascoff plays the long game". The Seattle Times.
  5. ↑ Marino, Vivian (21 October 2014). "Spencer Rascoff". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ "About Us".
  7. ↑ Stiles, Marc (Jan 9, 2017). "Report names Zillow CEO the most powerful person in real estate". Puget Sound Business Journal.
  8. ↑ Salinas, Sara (2019-02-21). "Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff is out — co-founder Rich Barton is taking over". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  9. ↑ "Spencer Rascoff Leaves Zillow Board - The Real Deal". The Real Deal New York. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  10. ↑ "Spencer Rascoff departs Zillow Group board, 1 year after stepping down as CEO". GeekWire. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  11. ↑ Schlosser, Kurt (9 Jan 2020). "Former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff launches dot.LA, a news site for Southern California tech". GeekWire. GeekWire, LLC. Retrieved 12 Nov 2020.
  12. ↑ Parker, Will (October 2020). "WSJ News Exclusive | as Pandemic Boosts Suburban-Home Demand, Startup Sells a New Ownership Model". Wall Street Journal.
  13. ↑ Rosalsky, Greg (24 August 2021). "A Startup Is Turning Houses Into Corporations, And The Neighbors Are Fighting Back". NPR. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  14. ↑ Duarte, Jesse (13 April 2021). "Home co-ownership company sues St. Helena in dispute over definition of timeshare". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  15. ↑ Journal, Will Parker | Photographs by Rachel Bujalski for The Wall Street (2021-06-20). "Napa Valley Feud Pits Real-Estate Startup Against Homeowners". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  16. ↑ SCHLOSSER, KURT (June 29, 2021). "Ex-Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff and teen daughter cook up a new food-focused social media startup". Geek Wire. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - February 22, 2015 - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-03-15.


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