Type Subsidiary of Realogy Founder Arthur E. Bartlett Number of employees 101,000 | Industry Real estate Motto Smarter Bolder Faster | |
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Founders Art Bartlett
Marsh Fisher Number of locations 78 countries and territories Key people Rick Davidson, President & CEO; Greg Sexton, COO; Carter Murdoch, PhD SVP Strategic Growth & Industry Relations Revenue Current information not available CEO Richard W. Davidson (Feb 2010–) Headquarters Madison, New Jersey, United States Founded 1971, California, United States Parent organizations Realogy, MetLife, Cendant, Trans World Corporation Profiles | ||
Century 21 Real Estate LLC is an American real estate agent franchise company founded in 1971. The system consists of approximately 6,900 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 78 countries and territories worldwide with over 101,000 sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate is headquartered in Madison, New Jersey.
History
Century 21 was founded in 1971 by two real estate agents, Art Bartlett and Marsh Fisher, in Orange County, California.
Here Bartlett reveals how they decided on the name:
We were brainstorming at lunch one day - my former VP and I - and I said the name had to sound like it had been around for a long time. [...] My former VP suggested 20th Century Realty. I thought it would be impossible to get the name registered. He said 21st Realty, but I didn't like that. He then said, "How about Century 21?" I liked it, though it sounded futuristic. [...] I called Marsh and told him, but he thought it was too futuristic. He wanted Green Valley. Well, we finally agreed on Century 21, and we incorporated the company.
Century 21 was acquired by Trans World Corporation in 1979, when Trans World Corporation decided to focus on hospitality. In 1985, MetLife acquired Century 21. When MetLife decided to leave the housing business, Century 21 was sold to Hospitality Franchise Systems (later Cendant) in 1995. When Cendant split, Century 21 became part of Realogy.