Rocket Cos. shuffles mortgage leadership, names Bob Walters CEO

Rocket Cos. has shuffled the leadership of its mortgage company, promoting Bob Walters to CEO from the president and chief operating officer jobs.

But Jay Farner, who had been CEO of Rocket Mortgage, retains his posts as vice chairman and CEO of Rocket Cos., and adds the CEO title at the renamed Rocket Central (until now known as Rock Central), a business line described as the centralized hub for the parent company's fintech platform.

Walters also remains president and COO of Rocket Cos. He started with the company in January 1997, after serving as senior vice president of DMR Financial and vice president of National Bank of Detroit, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The new president of Rocket Mortgage is Tim Birkmeier, who retains his current position of chief revenue officer. Birkmeier started at the company as a mortgage banker in 1996 and worked his way up the ranks.

"Bob has a very inquisitive nature, digging deep in every process to make sure the company leverages every small advantage to live up to the ISM, or philosophy, 'The Inches We Need Are Everywhere Around Us,'" Farner said in a press release. "Tim has worked closely with the mortgage banking team to hone our expertise in providing an exceptional experience for everyone — ensuring we make good on our promise, 'Every Client. Every Time. No Exceptions. No Excuses.'"

Farner became CEO of what was then called Quicken Loans in Feb. 2017, replacing Bill Emerson, who moved up to vice chairman of Rock Holdings, its parent company. At the same time, Walters took over as president and COO of the mortgage company.

Farner joined the original Rock Financial in 1996 as the director of mortgage banking and also moved up the ranks to lead the holding company's August 2020 initial public offering.

At Rocket Central, Farner will drive the vision for the technology, data, product design, marketing, communications and other services it provides. Former Rock Central CEO Angelo Vitale remains Rocket Cos. general counsel and secretary.