Jason Gesing steps away from eXp board
The former eXp CEO is resigning from the company’s board and reported selling 60,000 shares of company stock last week.
Jason Gesing, who has held multiple roles at eXp since joining the company in 2010, will no longer be a member of the eXp World Holdings board of directors. He also made a significant stock sale on Dec. 14.
Will Gesing stay at eXp? According to a recent SEC filing, Gesing, who had previously been CEO of eXp Realty from October 2019 through the end of 2022, announced that he would be vacating his position on the company's board of directors in January. However, he will retain his role as eXp's Chief Industry Relations Officer, which he moved into earlier this year. The filing indicates that Gesing's departure from the board "is not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices."
How much stock was sold? On December 14, Gesing sold 60,000 of his shares in the company, financial research and news site GuruFocus reported. Shares of eXp were trading at an average of $16.54 that day, which means Gesing's sale could be valued at nearly $1 million. According to the site, Gesing is a "significant shareholder," having owned 10% of the company. The SEC filing related to the sale notes that Gesing still owns more than 2.2 million shares of eXp stock.
Why does it matter? Major stock transactions by insiders who have prominent roles in a company or a sizable ownership stake can be interpreted in many ways by investors and financial researchers, but are typically viewed as signals to watch.
Additionally, the transaction happened the day before the New York Times published a major investigation into eXp's company culture and claims of sexual assault. While Gesing is not named in the latest lawsuit against eXp — which was filed on the day of Gesing's most recent stock sale — he was in the company's highest leadership role during the period when some of the alleged sexual misconduct took place.
According to the New York Times story, reporter Debra Kamin spent six months interviewing at least 30 current and former eXp agents. During eXp's earnings call with investors last month, Sanford said he was aware of the Times' investigation, adding that the "bad actors" mentioned in the original lawsuit were no longer with the company.
An eXp spokesperson later confirmed to Real Estate News that those bad actors were Michael Bjorkman and David Golden, two of the defendants named in the suit and individuals at the core of the New York Times investigation.
When speaking about the forthcoming NYT story, Sanford said he had hoped eXp would "get a chance to address it before it gets published." According to the Times, Sanford declined to comment on the story due to his involvement as a defendant in the lawsuits.