CoStar Rehires Richard Simonelli as Head of Investor Relations

CoStar Group, the company behind U.S. challenger portal Homes.com, has announced the hiring of Richard Simonelli as its new Head of Investor Relations.

Simonelli rejoins Virginia-based CoStar from brokerage firm Compass where he was Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Previously, he served as CoStar's Vice President of Investor Relations from 2011 to 2019.

A press release on CoStar's corporate website calls Simonelli "one of the top investor relations professionals in the United States" and states that he will be responsible for executing the firm's communication strategies and maintaining relations with institutional investors.

CoStar Group also announced the promotion of Cyndi Eakin to the position of Chief Accounting Officer. Eakin joined CoStar in 2016 and previously served as Group Controller and Head of Investor Relations.

“I’m delighted to welcome Rich back to CoStar Group and announce Cyndi’s promotion,” said Andy Florance, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CoStar Group. “As we enter another era of growth for the company, I believe Rich’s experience with CoStar Group’s ambitious plans and track record of success, combined with his residential real estate industry experience, will be more relevant than ever to CoStar Group. His ability to liaise with our shareholders takes on a renewed importance. And Cyndi’s prior experience as our Controller and most recent experience in Investor Relations make her uniquely suited to oversee our accounting function. I look forward to seeing both Cyndi and Rich thrive in these new roles.”

The hires come hot on the heels of the appointment of former Freddie Mac executive, Christian Lown as CoStar looks to freshen up its leadership as it pursues its goal of taking number two spot from Newscorp-owned Realtor.com.