Julie Wainwright (pictured), who in 2011 founded The RealReal, the now-public online marketplace for authenticated secondhand luxury goods, has resigned as CEO and chair after 11 years of leading the company.
The RealReal is currently searching for a new CEO.
During the transition, Rati Sahi Levesque, its president and chief operating officer, and Robert Julian, its chief financial officer, have been appointed co-interim CEOs. Both joined the company in 2021.
The company gave no reason for Wainwright’s sudden resignation, but an SEC filing said that it was “not due to any disagreements with the company.”
Analysts have long complained that the company, which went public in 2019, has been consistently unprofitable.
In a statement, Wainwright said, “The RealReal continues to make progress on its path to profitability, and I feel now is the right time for the next generation of leadership to guide the company through its next chapter.” She has agreed to serve in an advisory role as founder through the end of 2022.
Unlike most dot-com founders, Wainwright started The RealReal after heading several other notable dot-coms, including Pets.com and Reel.com, which are defunct.
In 2019, Wainwright told ReCode’s Kara Swisher that she started the company after shopping with a venture capitalist and seeing her buy some luxury consignment items.
“I was so interested in why she bought consignment,” she said. “Because she said she’d never walk in a consignment store, she would never shop on eBay. At the time those were her options. And yet, that’s where she spent her money.
“She said, ‘I trust the owner that these goods are real. I got a great deal. I bought Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci at a great price. Who cares if they’re previously owned?”
In February, Steffi Lee, The RealReal’s editorial manager of fine jewelry and watches, told JCK that the company saw fine jewelry and brick-and-mortar locations as essential to its future. (It currently has 16 retail locations.) Last week, Lee spoke to JCK about engagement and wedding ring trends.
Photo courtesy of The RealReal
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