Zillow Group

Zillow Group's story began in 2004 when co-founders Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, former Microsoft executives, assembled a team with a revolutionary vision: to transform how people search for and shop for homes. They saw an opportunity to empower consumers with unprecedented access to housing information that had traditionally been locked away in industry silos. When Zillow.com launched in February 2006, it attracted over a million visitors in just three days - overwhelming the servers and validating the immense public hunger for real estate transparency.

The company's breakthrough innovation was the Zestimate, a proprietary home valuation algorithm that turned Zillow into a household name. This was phase one: bringing radical transparency to home values and listings. But the founders recognized that accessing information was only half the battle - the actual transaction process remained frustratingly fragmented and offline. Today, Zillow Group is in phase two of its evolution, building a seamless end-to-end transaction experience. The company has expanded through strategic acquisitions like Trulia, StreetEasy, HotPads, ShowingTime, and Follow Up Boss, creating an integrated ecosystem that serves renters, buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals across the entire housing lifecycle.