People Roundup: REA India, Lifull, REA Group, Rightmove

This week's People Roundup starts with a major C-Suite appointment in India...

Asia: REA India confirms new CEO appointment

REA Group has named Praveen Sharma as Chief Executive Officer of REA India, succeeding Dhruv Agarwala, who exited the role in April after 14 years.

Praveen Sharma brings over 25 years of senior management experience across technology, digital, media, and advertising sectors in India and the Asia Pacific. He most recently held leadership roles at Paytm, where he built and operated businesses spanning advertising, online payments, and commerce services.

Owen Wilson, CEO at REA Group, said:

“I believe his depth of experience in digital businesses across the region will add significant value to REA India. Praveen has a successful track record delivering results, building and leading high-performing teams and growing product and technology capabilities."

REA India encompasses several real estate assets, namely Housing.com and PropTiger.

While PropTiger was founded and scaled by a founding team including ex-CEO Agarwala, Housing.com was acquired in 2017 and has become one of the leading portals in India, competing against the likes of 99 Acres, Magic Bricks and Square Yards for outright market leadership. Sharma, therefore, takes on one of the toughest jobs in global real estate—making Housing.com the undisputed number one in the world's most populous and competitive market.

LIFULL President Ito Yuji completes share purchase

LIFULL Co., Ltd. President and Representative Director Ito Yuji has completed a previously disclosed acquisition of company shares via open market transactions. The purchase was executed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange between May 15 and July 2, 2025.

The acquisition was initially announced in a regulatory filing dated May 14, 2025. Under the disclosed terms, Ito planned to acquire up to 1,370,000 shares or ¥300 million worth of common stock, inclusive of transaction costs.

With the transaction complete, Ito now holds 1,531,941 shares in total, representing approximately 1.14% of the company’s issued shares.

No additional commentary or rationale accompanied the update.

Oceania: REA Group hires new Chief Strategy Officer

REA Group has appointed Jane Cohen as Chief Strategy Officer. She joins the Executive Leadership Team with responsibility for guiding the company’s long-term strategic direction and innovation agenda.

Cohen brings over 25 years of experience leading operational, customer, and digital transformation initiatives across major Australian enterprises. Her mandate includes identifying new growth opportunities and supporting the evolution of REA’s product and platform capabilities.

Commenting on the appointment, Cohen said:

“I’m thrilled to be stepping into this exciting role at a company that has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in Australia. I’m looking forward to working with such a high-performing team who continue to differentiate REA’s products and experiences.”

United Kingdom: Svanstrom gets pay rise amid pricing controversies

Rightmove's CEO, Johan Svanstrom, saw his annual earnings increase to over £1.6 million last year, according to the company's latest financial filings.

Svanstrom pocketed an extra £330,000 in 2024 compared to 2023, as Rightmove's latest accounts revealed over 60% of developers are signed up to the company's Advanced package, while an extra 2,500 agents had subscribed to the Optimised Edge package, rising from 950 agents in 2023 to 3,492 in 2024.

While Svanstrom's increased pay does appear to align with Rightmove's improved performance, news of increased earnings may leave a bitter taste in the mouth of agents who continue to bemoan price increases by one of the world's most dominant real estate portals.

Earlier this year, Rightmove faced calls for separate boycotts from property platform Wiggywam and agent Shaun Adams, while Modelprop boss Malcolm McCallion is running a nationwide "Rightmove Resistance Tour" to preach an AI-focused approach to estate agency without over-reliance on Rightmove.