Founders of Zillow
Zillow was founded by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, two former Microsoft executives who also created Expedia. Rich Barton currently serves as Executive Chairman of Zillow Group, while Lloyd Frink remains an active investor and board member. The company was officially launched in 2006 with a mission to bring transparency to the U.S. housing market using public data and technology. Today Zillow is one of the most recognized brands in online real estate and digital home buying. Read more about Rich Barton on Forbes.
Rich Barton co-founded Zillow after previously building Expedia and later founding Glassdoor. Lloyd Frink brought experience in technology and investment management to the founding team. Together they created Zillow as a platform that aggregates listing data, property details, and estimated home values into a single consumer-facing website. The company went public in 2011 and has since expanded into mortgage services, iBuying, and data analytics for the real estate industry.
What Zillow Does Today
Zillow operates as a leading online real estate marketplace that connects buyers, sellers, renters, and lenders. The platform provides property listings, mortgage rate comparisons, Zestimate home valuations, and tools for searching homes for sale or rent. Zillow also offers direct home buying and selling services through its Zillow Offers program, which uses data and technology to make instant cash offers on residential properties. Learn how Zillow works on its official site.
Zillow Group includes brands such as Zillow, Trulia, HotPads, and StreetEasy, giving it broad coverage across U.S. and international real estate markets. The company earns revenue through advertising, mortgage referrals, iBuying transactions, and Premier Agent programs for real estate professionals. Zillow has become a major data source for housing trends, market forecasts, and neighborhood analytics used by consumers and industry professionals alike.
Key Facts and Company Overview
Zillow is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol Z. The company serves millions of users monthly and is one of the top visited real estate websites in the United States. Zillow's business model combines advertising, transaction fees, and data-driven services to generate revenue across multiple segments of the housing ecosystem. View Zillow SEC filings for official financial data.
Zillow has been recognized as a top workplace and a leading fintech and proptech company by major business publications. Its Zestimate algorithm uses machine learning and public records to estimate home values, making it one of the most widely cited automated valuation models in the U.S. The company continues to expand into mortgage lending, title services, and data partnerships while maintaining its core consumer-facing real estate platform.