Keller Williams® Realty, Inc. is an Austin, Texas-based, real estate franchise company with over 78,000 real estate agents, operating in more than 695 market centers (offices) across the United States and Canada. Keller Williams Realty is currently the third-largest residential real estate company in the United States.
Keller Williams Realty was founded in 1983 by Gary Keller and Joe Williams with the mission to build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living® for its associates.
Executive Team
Gary Keller
Co-founder and Chairman of the Board
As chairman of the board for Keller Williams Realty, Gary Keller provides the strategic direction for the company, while serving as a visionary leader within the North American real estate industry, and one of the most sought-after speakers, teachers and consultants.
Gary and his writing team have written three nationally best-selling books: The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times. Other titles include: Your First Home: The Proven Path to Homeownership, and FLIP: How to Find, Fix and Sell Houses for Profit.
Based on his leadership qualities and contributions to the real estate industry, Gary was voted as one of the five "Most Admired People" in a survey conducted by REAL Trends magazine. He was also was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Central Texas and named the second most influential person in the real estate industry by REALTOR® magazine in 2003. In 2004, he was a finalist for Inc. magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year award.
In 2006, Inman News named Keller to its list of the "100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders," the same year that The Wall Street Journal named Keller Williams Realty to its elite "Franchise High Performers" list. In 2009, Entrepreneur magazine ranked Keller Williams Realty the No. 1 real estate franchise.
Keller's passions include golf, reading, movies, rock concerts, fly fishing, snow skiing, football, basketball, and spending as much time as possible with his family and friends. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Mary, their son, John, and their three dogs, Max, Grace and Cash.
Mo Anderson
Vice Chairman
Mo Anderson is the heart and truly beloved leader of Keller Williams Realty. Her personal integrity and unending drive are touchstones that have made Keller Williams Realty one of the most successful franchises in real estate history.
Mo was named Keller Williams Realty's president and chief executive officer in 1995. Known at times as the "Velvet Hammer" for her uncompromising approach, Mo's astute business acumen and leadership abilities are uniquely matched by her faith and compassion. She has continuously cultivated the firm's value system, inspiring tens of thousands of associates throughout North America to maintain high standards of character within both their personal and professional lives.
Originally an elementary school music teacher, Mo's first love was the piano. She taught music for 14 years before entering the real estate field, where her talents as a business women quickly took hold. She established her first real estate office, a Century 21 franchise, in Edmond, Okla., in 1975; soon after, it was the third top-producing office out of 7,500 Century 21 locations in North America. In 1986 Mo sold the company to Merrill Lynch Realty, where she served as a district Vice President until December 1989.
In her current role as vice chairman of Keller Williams Realty, Mo spends a significant amount of her time traveling and teaching at Keller Williams' training events.
In December 2006, Mo was named one of America's Top 25 Influential Thought Leaders by REALTOR magazine. In January 2007, the Women's Council of REALTORS featured Mo as one of Real Estate's Most Influential People in an article published in Connections. And, in 2008, Mo was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Leaders by the CRB Council.
Mo Anderson has been named twice as Oklahoma's Women in Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She serves, or has served, on the boards of Edmond Memorial Hospital, the Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Foundation, the Daily Living Center, and Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
Mark Willis
CEO
Mark Willis was named CEO of Keller Williams Realty in 2005. Focused on growth, he works to ensure that Keller Williams Realty continues to attract and retain the best real estate professionals in the industry. When he became president of Keller Williams Realty in 2002, the company had 14,000 associates. Today, associates number more than 78,000 and Keller Williams stands as the third largest real estate company in the United States with close to 700 market centers.
Willis joined Keller Williams Realty in 1991 as team leader of the Austin-Southwest market center, where he quadrupled the market center's production over a five-year period, making it the No. 1 real estate office in the Keller Williams system. In 1997, he became regional director for Central and South Texas and quickly expanded the region's presence in San Antonio and Houston, eventually building a 1,900-agent business in the process, earning him a place in REAL Trends' Billionaire's Club.
Prior to joining Keller Williams, Willis served as a branch manager for Coldwell Banker. In the mid-1980s, he was the owner of Carriage House Realty.
Mary Tennant
President and COO
Mary Tennant was recruited by the executive team in 2006 to join the international support center as chief operations officer, based on her stellar track record for building teams and developing efficiencies in staff and office operations. Within a year, her role was expanded to include president of Keller Williams Realty. In her current role, she oversees all operations at the franchise support center and is focused on ensuring that the most dynamic real estate company in North America continues to provide its signature training and support to its ever growing base of associates.
Tennant began her real estate career with Keller Williams Realty in 1992. Claiming the National Rookie of the Year award, she quickly rose in the company ranks, taking on leadership and ownership roles at both local and regional levels. As the team leader of the Austin Southwest market center, she increased the real estate office's annual closed volume sales from $90 million to $1.3 billion within eight years.
Bryon Ellington
Chief Products Officer
As chief products officer (CPO), Bryon Ellington is focused on ensuring the synergistic development across all business units of training and tools that provide associates with a distinct edge.
Coming to Keller Williams Realty in 2002 with a background in education, Bryon stepped up to a pivotal role in the development of a wide range of educational and technological initiatives. Serving first as a research analyst in the Information Technology department, he helped to define the technology tools that would most effectively drive associates' businesses forward. He later assumed a leadership role within Keller Williams University, where he channeled his instructional design skills into the creation of key training programs and authored several classes, including the Internet Lead Generation curriculum. In 2007, Bryon stepped up to the role of director of research, development and implementation, where he helped to create technology and training to serve the evolving needs of associates in an online environment and put Keller Williams Realty at the forefront of technology in the real estate industry.
Ann Yett
Chief Financial Officer
Ann Yett signed on as Keller Williams Realty International‘s chief financial officer in 2006. As CFO, she is responsible for overseeing all financial, accounting and tax functions and has taken the lead in enhancing financial reporting systems and controls for annual budgets, forecasts and cash management.
Prior to joining Keller Williams Realty Yett was a certified public accountant (CPA) at the executive and consulting level and was responsible for crafting the strategic directions for companies of all sizes within a wide range of industries.
