Our Leader:
Gary Keller
As co-founder, chairman and CEO of Keller Williams, Gary Keller helps set strategic direction for the company. He is focused on expanding market share and helping agents boost their production to fund their lives and create opportunities through technology.
Gary graduated from Baylor University in 1979 with a degree in marketing and real estate. He helped five families buy a home his first month in the business, and by age 26 was the vice president of expansion for Austin's then-largest real estate company. He resigned from the position, and three and a half years later, his new firm was the largest in town – a position it retains to this day. Gary soon took his company and his philosophy of "people helping people" nationally, then internationally.
Gary is the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, and The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind
Extraordinary Results, which reached #1 on the Wall Street Journal business bestseller list.
A recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and finalist for Inc. Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year, Keller is widely recognized as a business leader. REALTOR® Magazine named him one of real estate’s most influential thought leaders. A
REAL Trends survey identified Gary as one of the five "Most Admired People" in real estate.
In 2015, Inman News named Keller as one of the top real estate "doers" who are driving change in the industry. And in 2016, Swanepoel named him one of the five most powerful people in residential real estate. In 2019, Gary Keller officially resumed the title of
CEO at Keller Williams. He previously served as the company’s CEO from its founding in 1983 until 1995.
A teacher at heart, Gary has been acknowledged as a distinguished alumnus of both his high school and Baylor, where he established the Keller Center for Research in the Hankamer School of Business. Gary continues to teach seminars across North America and coaches small-business owners and entrepreneurs. He also guides the development of innovative new initiatives, including Mega Agent Expansion and KW Kids Can.
A noted philanthropist and supporter of the arts, Keller and his wife, Mary Pfluger, live in Austin. His passions include fly fishing, hunting, snow skiing, golf, music, reading, movies, sports, dogs, and spending as much time as possible with his son John.