US proptech firm Opendoor hires Shopify exec as CEO

Opendoor has named Kaz Nejatian, former COO of Shopify, as its new CEO after Carrie Wheeler resigned last month following investor pressure.

Opendoor is a US-based online platform that buys and sells homes using technology.

Co-founder Keith Rabois will return as chairman, and Eric Wu, the company’s first CEO, will rejoin the board.

The leadership changes come after Opendoor was at risk of being delisted from Nasdaq in May due to its stock price falling below US$1.

The stock has since surged, reaching a market cap close to US$6 billion, up from under US$400 million less than three months ago.

Nejatian spent six years at Shopify, overseeing its product division and serving as COO.

His last day at Shopify will be September 12, the company said.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Carrie Wheeler’s departure follows a pattern where vocal investors successfully pushed for CEO changes despite some operational improvements.
Wheeler had narrowed losses from $1.35 billion in 2022 to $275 million in 2023 and achieved Opendoor’s first positive adjusted EBITDA of $23 million by mid-2025, yet still faced removal following pressure from Eric Jackson and Keith Rabois2.
The campaign included public criticism calling Wheeler’s leadership “utterly incompetent,” demonstrating how activist investors leverage media and social platforms to build momentum for management changes3.
Wheeler’s immediate stock sale of approximately 7 million shares for $35 million after her resignation reflects the personal financial pressure these campaigns can create on departing executives4.
The successful pressure campaign shows how activist investors can prioritize growth narrative over operational stability, particularly when companies struggle to articulate compelling future visions despite improving fundamentals.

Opendoor’s stock surge demonstrates how retail investor coordination can drive massive price movements that disconnect from underlying business performance.
The company’s market cap grew from less than $400 million to close to $6 billion in under three months, despite continuing to post losses and never achieving full-year profitability since its 2014 founding1.
Eric Jackson’s advocacy on social platforms helped transform Opendoor into a “meme stock,” with retail investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets driving an 800% surge from the June low of $0.515.
The stock’s extreme movements occurred while fundamental challenges persisted, including a debt-to-equity ratio of 346.12% and projected losses of 24-26 cents per share for 2025-20266.