CFOVILLE

Jeremy Hofmann

Whether it’s to shop apartment rentals or homes for sale, to ogle the McModern houses in a city’s affluent enclaves, or to find the Holy Grail of weirdest-looking houses, Zillow is often one of the first places people search.

Luckily, Zillow didn’t have to do much searching for its next COO. Its CFO was right there.

After close to nine years with the company operating the largest online real estate listing site, Zillow CFO Jeremy Hofmann took on the expanded role of COO/CFO in August. Hofmann told CFO Brew the new title feels like “a natural extension of a lot of what I’ve been doing,” and that Zillow has “gotten to a point where it made sense to extend the responsibilities.”

Hofmann, who was promoted to CFO in May 2023, said the main reason behind the title change was to see whether and by how much Zillow could speed up execution with a combined CFO and COO role. And amid a “super dynamic” housing market, Hofmann said, there’s a lot to learn.

“How fast can we go, and how much value can we deliver?” Hofmann asks.—DL

      

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INVESTOR RELATIONS

Vladimir Mironov/Getty Images

Shareholder proposals? Let the states sort that one out.

That’s the stance the SEC has taken in a proposed rescission of Rule 14a-8, the “shareholder proposal rule” of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The rule, which stipulates when companies must include shareholder proposals in their proxy statements, “exceeds the scope of the Commission’s statutory authority and intrudes into matters of state law,” the SEC argued in a press release.

If Rule 14a-8 were eliminated, states could set the conditions under which companies would be required to include shareholder proposals. Companies’ governing documents could also dictate which proposals are heard, if permitted by state law, Chair Paul Atkins wrote in a statement.

“The Commission has no authority to determine which matters are a proper subject for a shareholder vote,” Atkins wrote.

There’s a risk small investors will be left without a voice.—CV

      

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

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With increased automation and AI in accounting, much of the more manual “grunt work” that junior accountants traditionally performed can be relegated to technology. Theoretically, that should enable newer accountants to do more challenging work earlier in their careers—to exercise critical thinking and judgment, and spend more time with clients.

PwC’s 2026 AI Jobs Barometer suggests the shift toward “seniorization” is already underway, and that entry-level roles in heavily AI-exposed industries are now seven times more likely to require skills that were once considered higher-level.

But without years of experience under their belts, how will junior accountants be ready for these more complex roles? AI itself might provide part of the answer, Ann Holley, national managing partner for tax at KPMG, told CFO Brew.

Seniorization is real. “People are moving up the curve a lot faster,” she said. New hires need to grasp concepts like the nuances of tax laws and are building client relationships sooner, she said.

KPMG’s TaxSIM takes junior accountants through on-the-job scenarios.—CV

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: $35 million. That’s how much venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is investing in a San Francisco-based “AI-native” two-year academy, an unaccredited “alternative” to a college degree. (Wall Street Journal)

Quote: “Markets are made of neighborhoods and not all neighborhoods are created equal…Would I run out and buy a building in midtown Denver or downtown LA? No, I just wouldn’t. I don’t care if I got it for free, I just wouldn’t do it because I think it would be very difficult to lease that.”—Barry DiRaimondo, commercial real estate CEO, on elevated office vacancies (Bloomberg)

Read: The corporate credit market is now divided between AI and non-AI issuers, as growing hyperscaler and AI debt forces issuers to give concessions to appease a bond market shifting away from AI investment. (Reuters)

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