For over three decades, Keller Williams® market centers have been sharing a portion of their profits with their associates. In a milestone achievement in June 2024, KW announced the profit share program had surpassed $2 billion in total distributions since the program’s inception, doubling the distributions from $1 billion to $2 billion in just seven years. It’s a significant moment in the company’s history, underscoring Keller Williams’ commitment to treating its agents as valued stakeholders and partners, even as markets shift and consumer dynamics change.
A Model Unlike Any Other in the Real Estate Industry
The profit share program at Keller Williams is a unique initiative designed to align the interests of the company’s owners with those of its agents. Established in 1986 by Gary Keller and KW’s first Associate Leadership Council (ALC), the program officially launched in 1987, with the goal of creating a business environment where every associate has the opportunity to build wealth alongside the company’s growth.
At its core, profit share involves individual market center owners sharing their office’s monthly profits with the associates who contribute to the market center’s success. This model not only incentivizes agents to help grow their local market centers, it also rewards them with passive income. The system was designed to ensure that agents could earn residual income without diverting their focus from their core business activities, such as listing and selling real estate.
Keller Williams Profit Share at Work
When an agent joins a Keller Williams® market center, they designate a sponsor – the person who had the greatest impact on their decision to join KW. That sponsor becomes part of the new agent’s profit share tree, receiving a portion of the profits realized by the market center by virtue of the new agent’s activities.
“We created a program that would treat Keller Williams® real estate sales associates as legitimate partners in the business.”
– Gary Keller
Each month, an agent contributes “company dollar” from their commission split to the market center. When the market center is profitable, a portion of its profits – as opposed to a portion of an individual agent’s commissions – is automatically distributed to the agent’s sponsor the following month. This distinction ensures the profit share program rewards agents for contributing to the overall growth of their market centers.
KW Co-Founder and Chairman Gary Keller said, “We created a program that would treat Keller Williams® real estate sales associates as legitimate partners in the business.” This ethos permeates the company’s operations and culture, fostering a supportive environment where agents thrive and contribute to collective success.
Impact and Reach of Keller Williams Profit Share 2024
The $2 billion milestone in profit share distributions reflects the profound impact of the program on Keller Williams® associates. Since its inception, profit share has enabled:
137 associates to earn over $1,000,000 each
386 associates to earn over $500,000 each
3,077 associates to earn over $100,000 each
and tens of thousands more to earn significant additional income.
Profit share has transformed lives, offering KW® agents the opportunity to achieve financial independence and stability through their efforts in real estate. KW® associates also have the option to leave their accumulated profit share to a beneficiary, allowing them to secure their financial legacy beyond their active real estate career.
Profit Share as the Barometer of Culture
Michael Rapasky’s journey with Keller Williams began in 2019, when he joined as a newly licensed commercial agent in Cleveland, Ohio. Michael quickly rose to team leader status. Now as CEO and operating principal, Michael continues to be an integral leader in shaping the Greater Metropolitan market center into one of KW’s top performers nationwide. His passion for building a thriving community within KW stems from the mentorship, support, and encouragement he received from peers across Northeast Ohio and the broader KW network.
Michael views KW’s profit share program not just as a reward for growth, but as a pathway to passive income and wealth accumulation. For him, profit share exemplifies KW’s culture and community spirit, where agents aren’t just individual entrepreneurs, they’re joint stakeholders invested in each other’s success.
Central to Michael’s approach is the belief that the measure of a strong market center is in part the cohesion and support among its members, with profit share serving as a barometer of that strength.
Under Michael’s leadership, the Greater Metropolitan Cleveland office has achieved significant engagement in the program, with 70% of agents naming another agent as their sponsor. This high participation rate is crucial for growing the market center and attracting agents who value the office’s culture and profitability. Engaged associates not only contribute to their own success but also enhance the long-term productivity and profitability of the market center.
“Real estate is a team sport. It’s all about showing up, helping agents sell houses by providing more value, and then pouring more back into them as a result of that collective success,” Michael said.
Building Profit Share with Purpose
After closing a chapter in her life as a banker and seeking a renewed sense of fulfillment, Helynn Boughner decided to invest in a career as a real estate agent. In 2008, dissatisfied with the lack of support from her previous brokerage on her first few deals, Helynn went looking for a new place to hang her license; she found it at Keller Williams NY Realty.
“I get to be an example for my children and have the opportunity to leave a legacy. I get to serve at a higher level for my market center, myself, and my family – and that’s the bottom line.”
– Helynn Boughner, Keller Williams NY Realty
For Helynn, KW’s culture of contribution and community made all the difference. After attending The ONE Thing tour with Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, Helynn realized she wasn’t just an agent; she was also a stakeholder in KW’s success.
Realizing the power of KW’s profit share program from the start, Helynn sponsored over 100 associates into KW, helping them find careers aligned with their values. She’s had the opportunity to see several people in her downline grow into mega agents who now have their own teams. Her efforts have earned her a spot among the 3,000 associates to break the six-figure mark in profit share distributions. Profit share has since become one way she invests in her 401k, and also allowed her to fund her children’s education, tuition, and other extracurricular activities.
“I get to be an example for my children and have the opportunity to leave a legacy. I get to serve at a higher level for my market center, myself, and my family – and that’s the bottom line,” said Helynn.
Today, Helynn continues to thrive within KW, serving as a cultural ambassador and Quantum Leap instructor. Her journey showcases how KW’s supportive environment and profit share program empower agents to build meaningful careers and inspire others to achieve their goals.
Turning Dreams into Reality
Legacy wasn’t a word in Tara Smith’s vocabulary early on. Her childhood years were challenging – homes were never permanent and life was generally unstable. In her late teens and early twenties, Tara had three children, and she needed a sustainable path to income.
“I had always dreamed about being a real estate agent,” Tara said, so she went for it. “While my boys were napping, I was focused on finishing my online real estate classes.”
“The moment I realized I could build something bigger than me, and create a legacy that I could leave to my children, was the moment I moved to Keller Williams.”
– Tara Smith, Operating Principal, Keller Williams Greater Cincinnati
For eight years, Tara hung her license with the largest independent real estate brokerage in her area. And in those eight years, she transformed from a part-timer to one of the top ten agents in the city.
“Keller Williams started calling me in 2010, but I didn’t give the team leader the time of day.” That was until she worked on a transaction with Jesse Kerr, an agent with the Greater Lexington, KY, market center.
In just a few one-on-one coffee conversations, “Jesse literally changed my life,” Tara recalled.
By that time, Tara was burned out and ready to build a team, but she didn’t know where to start. Keller Williams had the answers. Tara learned that under the KW commission model, she could take home $65,000 more a year compared to her current brokerage,that KW had the models, systems, and training to support her growth and,he learned about profit share.
“The moment I realized I could build something bigger than me, and create a legacy that I could leave to my children, was the moment I moved to Keller Williams,” Tara said.
With her downline established and her team going full steam ahead, Tara found herself in the unique position of making more than 100 percent of her commission. “It’s like Keller Williams was paying me to sell real estate.”
A former team leader and currently operating principal of four market centers including Keller Williams’ Cincinnati Market Center, she is now accountable to her agents’ success and profit share growth.
“Market center leadership has a responsibility to operate the market center in a way that creates a profit. Profit share ensures we are all stakeholders in our shared success – that’s the culture.”
A Legacy Worth Leaving
Rochelle Burnett and her late husband Doug joined Keller Williams Greater Des Moines in 2011, at the market center’s inception. They started as investors, while also selling real estate as a small team. Profit share was an important concept and piece of the culture, but because they were joining a new market center, they were cautious in their expectations.
“We thought our first profit share check couldn’t be more than $50, because the market center had only been open for three months,” remembered Rochelle. “When we opened the envelope and saw $350, we knew it was the real deal.”
“Through estate planning, we were able to establish a trust as a beneficiary, so the kids can each receive Doug’s profit share forever.”
– Rochelle Burnett, The Burnett Team, Keller Williams Greater Des Moines
Together, Rochelle and Doug earned a lifetime profit share of $615,000. Doug passed away in late 2021 and left his profit share legacy to his kids. “Through estate planning, we were able to establish a trust as a beneficiary, so the kids can each receive Doug’s profit share forever. It’s been amazing to write Doug’s kids’ checks after his passing.”
Rochelle continues to run a real estate team of strong women who sell around 100 homes a year and 30 million in sales.
