type privately held corporation industry real estate founded austin texas 1983 headquarters austin texas united states number of locations 700 worldwide key people gary w. keller chairman mo anderson vice chairman chris heller ceo john davis president number of employees 125 000 agents 200 corporate 1 2 website www.kw.com keller williams realty is an american international real estate franchise with headquarters in austin texas . founded in 1983 by gary keller and joe williams it grew from a single office in austin to approximately 700 offices and 125 000 associates worldwide . 2 it is the largest real estate franchise by agent count in north america and the one of the largest privately held global residential real estate brokerage . 1 it is an inc. 5000 company and has been recognized as one of the highest rated real estate company and franchise by numerous publications including entrepreneur magazine 3 and forbes . 4 contents 1 history 2 company divisions 3 philanthropy 4 awards and recognition 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit keller williams realty was founded in 1983 by gary keller and joe williams . 5 it started out as a single office based in austin texas selling local residential real estate in the austin area . 6 after two years in business keller williams became the largest single office residential real estate firm in austin with 72 licensed agents . 7 in the mid 1980s the company suffered from the united states housing bubble and began to offer profit sharing to existing and potential associates in order to retain agents and help get through the recession . 7 within a year the company grew to 130 agents and began to climb back as the top real estate broker in austin . 7 keller williams co founder gary keller speaking at an event in 2012 . in the early 1990s keller williams realty expanded outside of the state of texas opening up its business model to franchising beginning in 1991 . it opened an office in oklahoma in 1993 marking the firm s first office to be located outside of its home state . 7 the oklahoma office was later recognized as the most successful single real estate office in that state . 7 keller williams expanded at a rapid rate throughout the united states much of which was attributed to a 70 30 commission split for agents . 8 in 1997 the company was recognized by being on the franchise gold 100 list by success magazine . 9 as it moved into the next century keller williams became the 6th largest real estate agency in the u.s. 8 an example of its rapid expansion came in the state of florida where in 2004 it was attributed as the largest real estate office in polk county with 114 agents . 10 that same year it was attributed as the fastest growing real estate office in the entire state with 45 market centers bringing its total nationwide agent count to over 30 000 . 10 11 keller williams realty continued expanding and in 2007 the company launched luxury homes by keller williams a division within the company that brokers luxury only real estate . 12 eligible agents receive training and certification through the institute of luxury home marketing and are designated as experts for sale of the company s high end properties . 12 in 2008 it launched kw commercial a division providing commercial real estate associates with specialized technology marketing tools and resources . 13 the division is known for allowing agents to keep more commission splits in their favor retaining at least 60 percent more based on 300 000 gross income . 13 it also allowed profit sharing similar to residential agents . as of 2012 the division boasted of more than 1 000 brokers nationally . 14 keller williams realty franchise signing in south africa in 2012 . by the end of the decade in 2010 keller williams had 77 672 real estate agents in the united states . it surpassed century 21 as the second largest real estate agency in the u.s. two years after taking over the third spot from re max international . 15 between 2005 and 2011 the company saw a 40 percent increase in the number of offices in north america . 15 keller williams realty went international in 2012 launching keller williams worldwide as a subdivision to manage its international franchising . 15 it awarded its first overseas franchise in vietnam in 2012 . the same year franchising of the company was made available in indonesia and southern africa and in 2013 expanded to germany austria switzerland turkey and the united kingdom . 16 at the end of april 2014 keller williams realty reached 100 575 agents worldwide . 17 this was due to an 18 percent increase in agents during 2013 . 17 as of 2014 it is the largest real estate franchise by agent count in north america and the only privately held global residential real estate brokerage . 1 18 in 2014 the company also announced the opening of a region in dubai . 19 the first dubai franchise was awarded to a leadership group affiliated with ifa hotels & resorts which is considered the largest foreign investor on the palm jumeirah . 20 company divisions edit keller williams worldwide keller williams worldwide is responsible for the company s global franchising and expansion . kellerink kellerink is the publishing arm of keller williams realty responsible for the publishing of instructional and inspirational business books with a specialty in real estate . the company published the nationally bestselling millionaire real estate series and the one thing the surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results . they have sold more than a million books worldwide . luxury homes by keller williams luxury homes by keller williams is the company s luxury real estate arm . kw commercial division of keller williams responsible for brokering commercial real estate . 13 philanthropy edit keller williams realty is involved in many charitable causes both as a franchisor and with individual franchisee offices . it operates a charitable arm known as kw cares which is a nonprofit organization set up to assist associates of the company and their families deal with hardships and emergencies . 21 examples of giving include providing assistance to help fight serious illness or recover from a life altering accident . the organization also donates to various other nonprofits including the ryan s well foundation homes for our troops and the m. d. anderson cancer center . 22 beginning in 2009 keller williams realty began organizing a one day yearly event where all associates spend a day away from the office donating their time to their local communities . 23 known among the associates as red day renew energize and donate all keller williams offices shut down for the event . 24 since its inception associates have been involved with projects that include rebuilding homes hosting blood drives giving to local food shelters and refurbishing local parks . 24 25 awards and recognition edit keller williams realty has received numerous awards since its inception . in addition to being an inc. 5000 company it has been recognized by inc. as a top 100 real estate company placed on the magazine s honor role as a five time inc. 5000 honoree and receiving an inc. hire power award . 18 26 further recognition has come from entrepreneur where it has been featured in the magazine s best of the best franchise list 3 as well as inclusion in their franchise 500 rankings . 27 28 in 2013 workplace dynamics named keller williams the no. 9 top workplace in the united states . 29 also in 2013 inc. magazine presented keller williams with a hirepower award and recognized the company as one of the 5 000 fastest growing private companies in the united states . 26 additional awards and recognition include being named as one of the top 10 companies to work for in america by forbes 4 a 2009 stevie awards winner 30 and being ranked in 2014 the no. 2 training organization across all industries by training magazine 31 and ranked in 2015 as the no. 1 training organization across all industries . 32 see also edit austin portal companies portal list of companies based in austin texas list of franchises list of real estate topics real estate trends references edit a b c buchholz jan 8 may 2014 . keller williams hits milestone with 100 575 agents worldwide . austin business journal . retrieved 16 may 2014 . a b frost darryl 8 september 2015 . keller williams surpasses 125 000 associates amid record expansion . kwri press release . retrieved 15 september 2015 . a b herold tracy stapp 22 april 2011 . entrepreneur s 2011 best of the best franchises list . entrepreneur magazine . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b adams susan 31 january 2013 . the top 10 companies to work for in america . forbes . retrieved 19 may 2014 . sullivan marilyn d. 2006 . the complete idiot s guide to success as a real estate agent . penguin . isbn 9781592575657 . weingartner nancy 1999 . keller williams has sales associates dive into the profit sharing pool . franchise times . access date requires url help a b c d e simmons lee 24 may 1998 . realtor saw opportunity in adversity . austin business journal . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b pleasant rachel 10 september 2003 . new realty goes for brokers . lakeland ledger . retrieved 19 may 2014 . vyas charul 16 november 1997 . success finds keller williams schlotzskys . austin business journal . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b martin joan 18 september 2004 . with 114 realtors keller williams realty is now biggest real estate firm in polk county . lakeland ledger . retrieved 19 may 2014 . martin joan 19 june 2004 . keller williams takes off all over florida . lakeland ledger . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b keller williams realty announces luxury homes program opens doors to high end market in saint louis mo . st. louis real estate today . 12 september 2007 . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b c cronan carl 18 june 2007 . keller williams expands into commercial arena taps agents for leads . tampa bay business journal . retrieved 19 may 2014 . jeff rohn named managing director of the kw commercial peninsula office . the registry . 4 june 2012 . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b c egan john 8 march 2001 . austin s keller williams targets global expansion . the examiner . access date requires url help garrison trey 18 february 2014 . keller williams posts major growth plans dubai office . housing wire . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b keller williams tops 100k agents worldwide . inman . 7 may 2014 . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b gupta rapti 18 february 2013 . keller williams realty ranked 1 by agent count in us . realty today . retrieved 19 may 2014 . hunt angela 15 april 2014 . keller williams taps manhattan exec to run operation in dubai . the real deal . retrieved 19 may 2014 . sambidge andy 14 april 2014 . largest us real estate franchise to launch ops in dubai . arabian business . retrieved 19 may 2014 . sain cliff 22 april 2014 . more than 200 take part in inaugural 5k . branson tri lake news . retrieved 19 may 2014 . what we do . kw cares . retrieved 19 may 2014 . baron sharon aron 12 may 2014 . local business shuts down for a worthy community project . tamarac talk . retrieved 19 may 2014 . a b keller williams employees give back work hard on red day .