Shares in meme stock darling Opendoor Technologies (Nasdaq: OPEN) are surging once again after the real estate sales platform announced a new CEO: Kaz Nejatian, the chief operating officer of Shopify. Here’s what you need to know about Nejatian and how investors are reacting to the news.
What’s happened?
Yesterday, Opendoor named the chief operating officer of Shopify, Kaz Nejatian, as its new CEO. The appointment was news to many, but the fact that Opendoor was looking for a new chief executive was not.
That’s because on August 15, Opendoor announced that its then-CEO, Carrie Wheeler, would be stepping down effective immediately. In her place, the company’s chief technology and product officer, Shrisha Radhakrishna, stepped up as interim leader as the search for a new CEO commenced.
At the time, Opendoor said, Wheeler had “made the decision to step down” from her role as CEO. However, as The Wall Street Journal notes, there has been pressure from retail investors to replace Wheeler, especially after the company’s disappointing Q2 2025 results, which saw it purchase 63% fewer homes during the quarter than a year earlier.
Opendoor makes the majority of its money by buying homes directly from homeowners, fixing them up, and then flipping them for a profit.
But during its Q2 results, Opendoor also offered guidance that spooked investors. It said that during its current Q3, it expects revenue of $800 million to $875 million. That represents a 36% decline from the revenue it generated in the same quarter a year earlier.
OPEN stock fell nearly 20% as a result of these announcements—severely limiting the gains that it had made in July when it became a favorite among meme stock investors.
In a press release announcing the search for a new CEO, Wheeler said she believed “now is the right moment for a leadership transition, and I’m confident the company is on a strong path forward.” The company, in turn, stated that its new “CEO search is well underway.”
As of yesterday, that search has ended.
Who is Kaz Nejatian?
Kaz Nejatian comes to Opendoor from Shopify, where he had held the role of the online shopping platform’s chief operating officer since 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Before becoming Shopify’s COO in 2022, Nejatian was a VP of merchant services at the company and, prior to that, held the title of VP & GM of Shopify Money. Before Shopify, Nejatian worked at Facebook as a lead project manager for the company’s payment platform and billing teams.
Before his positions at Big Tech companies, Nejatian was the cofounder and CEO of Kash, a mobile payments technology company that catered to small businesses.
Kash was founded in 2012 and acquired “by one of the largest fintech companies in the U.S.” in 2017, according to Opendoor’s press release. According to PitchBook, the acquiring firm was undisclosed.
Announcing the appointment of Nejatian as the company’s new CEO, Opendoor’s cofounder and chairman, Keith Rabois, said Nejatian “is a decisive leader who has driven product innovation at scale, ruthlessly reduced general and administrative (G&A) expenses to drive profitability and deeply understands the potential for AI to radically reshape a company’s entire operations.”
“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,” he added.
As for Nejatian, the new CEO said his position at Opendoor was a privilege. “Few life events are as important as buying or selling a home,” he added. “With AI, we have the tools to make that experience radically simpler, faster, and more certain. That’s the future we’re building.”
How have Opendoor shares reacted?
Shares in Opendoor have reacted very well to the appointment of Nejatian as CEO.
As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading this morning, OPEN shares are currently trading up more than 35% to $7.92 per share. Yesterday, OPEN shares had closed down over 4% to $5.86 per share.
The company’s shares are now at their highest level since 2022.
Year-to-date, OPEN shares have surged more than 266% as of yesterday’s close. However, whether they can maintain their recent momentum in the long term will likely ultimately depend on the company’s future fundamentals, rather than any transient meme stock hype.