Opendoor stock soars more than 55% as Shopify COO hired to lead company

Opendoor (OPEN) stock jumped more than 55% shortly after Thursday’s opening bell on news that the company has hired Shopify’s chief operating officer as the real estate platform’s new chief executive.

The company announced Wednesday night that Shopify (SHOP) COO Kaz Nejatian would be joining the beleaguered iBuyer as CEO, stepping in to replace the hole left by prior CEO Carrie Wheeler.

The company also named co-founder Keith Rabois as chairman of the board and re-appointed co-founder Eric Wu, who left the company in 2022 to lead Marketplace, to the board. Board members Pueo Keffer and Glenn Solomon have stepped down, according to the release.

“Literally there was only one choice for the job: Kaz. I am thrilled that he will be serving as CEO of Opendoor,” Rabois said. “He is a proven executive with a founder’s brain. He is the right leader to unlock Opendoor’s unique data and assets as we build on Opendoor’s original mission, now enhanced as an AI-first company.”

Opendoor has spent the last month in flux after Wheeler stepped down in mid-August amid pressure from investors, with prominent calls coming from both activist investor Eric Jackson and Rabois. Jackson kicked off a major bull rally in Opendoor with an X thread in July laying out an $82 price target on a penny stock that was at the time worth less than $1.

“Carrie Wheeler is not the leader to take $OPEN to $82 and beyond,” Jackson posted a week before Wheeler’s resignation. “The board needs to act now. I’ve never been more convinced about a CEO needing to step aside now.”

Its iBuyer platform, which uses algorithms to flip houses, had seen its stock crater from more than $30 to below $1 as of April. But the company marked its first quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA in Q2, and its share price has gained more than 600% in the last six months to now trade between $8 and $9.

Bull-case investors and prominent leadership at the company, now including Nejatian, have expressed confidence that Opendoor can use a mix of AI-powered technology and new tactics, like partnering with traditional brokers, to achieve market share and sustained profitability.

“My experience at Shopify showed me what happens when you build a platform that unleashes innovation at scale,” Netajian said in a post on X announcing his move to Opendoor. “That platform mindset is what I hope to bring to Opendoor—to build a platform for homeownership, one that unlocks opportunity for millions of families and strengthens the fabric of society.”