People on the Move: eXp names interim chief financial officer
Jesse Hill takes on a new role at eXp, and Michael Brennan joins National Mortgage Bankers after a decade at Movement Mortgage.
Editor's note: As an industry with millions of agents and over 100,000 brokerage companies, new leaders rise to the top every day. Here we highlight executives and other notable leaders who've recently taken on, or stepped away from, roles that influence the residential real estate landscape.
Finance leader with an international focus will serve as eXp's interim CFO
eXp World Holdings has named Jesse Hill of eXp Realty as interim chief financial officer. Hill, who joined eXp in 2019 and became vice president of international finance and corporate FP&A (financial planning and analysis) last fall, will assume his new role on April 1.
eXp Principal Financial Officer Kent Cheng, who stepped in when eXp's previous CFO departed last fall, is expected to take on an advisory position through August to help with the transition. The company's search for a permanent CFO continues.
Hill "has been an important part" of eXp World Holdings' "growth and expansion plans," eXp World Holdings Chairman and CEO Glenn Sanford said in a statement. "Under Jesse's financial leadership, International Realty has expanded into eight additional markets, increasing revenue nearly five-fold and significantly improving segment operating margins."
Hill's appointment follows several other executive-level transitions at eXp in the past year. Jeff Whiteside, eXp's former CFO and chief collaboration officer, joined LPT Realty as its new CFO in November, following in the footsteps of Michael Valdes, who served as eXp's chief growth officer before leaving for LPT last summer. The CEO at eXp Realty, Leo Pareja, was promoted to the position last April.
While the company reported a 7% revenue increase in 2024, net losses were also higher than in 2023. Pareja said during a February earnings call that the company would likely "be in this low transaction count for the foreseeable future," a prediction that eXp executives said they intended to address with investments in technology and international growth.
As interim CFO, Hill said one of his top priorities will be ensuring "that our agent-centric investments deliver the highest ROI to our agent base as we remain focused on operating efficiently at scale."
Veteran leader joins National Mortgage Bankers
Michael Brennan is the new president of sales and operations at National Mortgage Bankers Inc., which has 500 employees operating in 47 states. He brings more than 25 years of experience in mortgage lending and spent the last decade at Movement Mortgage, where he assisted with expansion efforts after being named the South Carolina-based company's president in 2021.
Brennan's arrival at National Mortgage Bankers "is hugely significant for building upon the strong foundation we have at NMB and now expanding our services across the nation," Founder and Chairman Richard Steinberg said in a news release.