Kenneth Jenny, respected real estate industry vet, dies at 66

His real estate career began at Coldwell Banker in 1984, according to Jenny’s LinkedIn profile. At Coldwell Banker, he climbed the ranks over the course of about seven years to become COO, with all operations across North America under his purview. From there, Jenny moved on to become senior vice president and CMO of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates where he spent about three-and-a-half years, after which he became CEO and co-owner of real estate media company RealEstate.com, where he worked nearly six years.

At the end of his career, Jenny focused his attentions on his real estate tech and brokerage services consultancy, tranCen, which he ran for over 25 years. Over the course of his consultancy career, Jenny worked with notable clients like Zillow Group, Opcity, MoxiWorks and Realogy, among others.

Am I the only one that gasped when I read he was 66? Oh man.

Ken wasn’t exactly a fan of the MLS industry, but I respected his opinion. He didn’t shy away from tough topics and I appreciated that he spoke his mind in an unfiltered type of way. Some great tributes on Facebook.

The last time I saw Ken was in Newport Beach, pre-pandemic. I had a lunch meeting with someone at the Pelican Grill. As I was walking out I spotted Ken at another table with a group of people.

He had a big smile as I approached the table (who doesn’t like to be recognized when out?) with a “Hiya doing Greg.”, he stood up, introduced me to the people around the table, in a flattering way. We briefly chatted and I left.

I’m sure he was meeting the people at that table to help them with something or connecting them to other people that could help them. Helping. Connecting. That was his way.

RIP Ken.