Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

'Selling Sunset' broker Jason Oppenheim says 'Compass basically destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry'

'Selling Sunset' broker Jason Oppenheim says 'Compass basically destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry'

Oppenheim called the amount Compass brokers get to keep from commissions "unsustainable," but Compass said it has no plans to change its "split policy."

The superstar real-estate broker Jason Oppenheim railed against an embattled rival firm, Compass, saying the company "destroyed the brokerage model for the entire industry" and faces a "grim reality."    

"There's no fixing Compass," Oppenheim, best known from the Netflix reality show "Selling Sunset," told the real-estate news outlet Inman.

Oppenheim closed over $429 million in sales last year as the head of his own brokerage, The Oppenheim Group, a Los Angeles-based firm that his great-great-grandfather founded in 1889. 

Oppenheim's critique centers on "splits," the slice that a brokerage takes from an agent's commission each time they buy or sell a house on a client's behalf. Brokerages use that money for everything from shared office space to marketing resources. 

Splits can range from 50-50 all the way up to 90-10, with agents keeping 90% of a commission — which is usually 3% of a home's sale price — and giving their firm 10%. 

Oppenheim said the splits at Compass are unsustainably generous, in the ballpark of 90-10, generating too little revenue for the brokerage to function profitably.

Former Compass agents confirmed in a lawsuit they were offered 90-10 splits, and The Wall Street Journal reported that some offer letters allowed brokers to keep 100% of their commissions on the first eight deals.

"If you have a broken business model, it doesn't matter how many agents you have. It's irrelevant. If you are making televisions for $100 a piece, and you're selling them for $99 a piece, it doesn't matter that you're making more televisions, it doesn't fix your business model," Oppenheimer told Inman. 

Compass, meanwhile, told Insider it doesn't anticipate changing its split policies. 

"We are planning our cost structure to be profitable in 2023, even with a 25 percent decline in the market, with no change in our split policy. The market responded very favorably and multiple Wall Street analysts project Compass will be profitable without any change to split policies," a Compass spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Insider.  

In a call with Insider, Oppenheim broke down what he considers a more "sustainable and successful" split. 

"The most successful agents at 80-20, and the newer agents at 60-40. Then most of the agents will be at 70-30," he told Insider. He declined to share the range of splits for his agents at The Oppenheim Group. 

Oppenheim also believes that Compass has dragged down the rest of the industry. 

"There are other brokerages out there offering 90-10 and 85-15 splits because they had to in order to compete with Compass," Oppenheim told Insider. 


Compass is on a mission to cut costs by $320 million after a shaky year 


Compass was founded in 2012 by Robert Reffkin, who had never worked in real estate before, and two other entrepreneurs, Ori Allon and Avi Dorfman. The firm rose to become the top brokerage in the US in sales volume, selling $251 billion in real estate in 2021. But after interest rates went up earlier this year, the real-estate market slowed down dramatically, leaving many agents — and by extention, their brokerages — earning fewer commissions.

Compass, which went public in April 2021, has never turned a profit. It reported a $154 million loss in the third quarter. Its stock price has steadily plunged from $18 the day of the IPO to $2.69 on November 29. Since June, Compass has laid off more than 1,000 people, and executives announced $320 million in cost-cutting. 

A few superagents have fled the brokerage, though Compass touted a 15% increase in its number of agents in the third quarter, saying it employs more than 13,000 agents in total. 

Oppeheim told Insider he currently employs "about 40" agents.

Oppenheim said in his Inman interview that at one point he hoped Compass would "buy me up," but the brokerage said it never responded to his inquiry. 

"Compass doesn't focus on other companies or reality TV, we focus on making our agents more successful," a Compass spokesperson said in an email. "Compass did not respond to Jason's inquiries because he would not have been a culture fit and therefore we did not want to waste his time."

Oppenheim told Insider he's not rooting for the downfall of Compass. "I hope they succeed, but time will tell," he said in a phone interview.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×