Opendoor CEO Resigns. The Meme Stock Is Getting New Leadership.

The real estate e-commerce platform has emerged as a meme stock over the last month. (Courtesy Opendoor)

Opendoor Technologies CEO Carrie Wheeler is stepping down, the real estate e-commerce platform said Friday.

Shrisha Radhakrishna, Opendoor’s chief technology and product officer, is taking over as president and interim leader. The company said its search for a permanent replacement is “well underway,” having begun a succession planning process after Wheeler approached the board earlier this year.

Investors appeared pleased by Wheeler’s resignation: Shares jumped 8.8% to $3.30 Friday morning.

The announcement came just days after Wheeler, also chair of Opendoor’s board, authored a blog post titled “Our Path Forward,” which aimed to answer questions about management’s vision and business model. The company posted disappointing second-quarter earnings earlier this month.

Opendoor has emerged as a meme stock over the last month. It gained momentum after prominent investors touted the company’s potential on social media—including its co-founder, Keith Rabois of venture-capital firm Khosla Ventures, and Eric Jackson of EMJ Capital.

Shares traded at 53 cents a piece entering July and had since climbed more than 470% as of Thursday’s close. That rally has meant additional investor scrutiny of Wheeler, who said in a post on X that she was resigning earlier than expected.

“The last weeks of intense outside interest in Opendoor have come at a time when the company needs to stay focused and charging ahead,” Wheeler wrote. “I believe the best thing I can do for Opendoor now is to accelerate my succession plans that I shared with the Board mid-year and make room for new leadership to take the reins.”

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com