Carl Liebert’s career in the real estate business lasted just 20 months, but that’s still more than four times as long as he survived in auto retailing.
Liebert, who was ousted from AutoNation in 2019 after 133 days as its CEO, took the top job at Keller Williams parent Kwx in October 2020. Keller Williams last week said Liebert was leaving, effective immediately, to “pursue other opportunities.”
Just as he was at AutoNation, Liebert had been a industry newcomer and the successor to a beloved, longtime leader stepping aside to be chairman. At Keller Williams, that leader, co-founder Gary Keller, has been reinstalled as the top executive while the firm examines its future needs.
AutoNation called Liebert a bad fit for the role and handed him a nearly $4 million severance package on the way out the door. It wasn’t clear last week whether Liebert was leaving Keller Williams with such a generous golden parachute, though the firm avoided any negative public send-off.
“Carl contributed his leadership and experience to our team at a critical moment in our history,” Keller wrote in a letter to employees. “We are all the better for the time we shared working together.”