Rocket Mortgage President Tim Birkmeier retires

Rocket Mortgage President Tim Birkmeier announced his retirement Thursday, the latest leadership move at the massive Detroit firm in the past year. 

The 28-year veteran of the company held the president role since January 2022, dropping last year a dual title as chief revenue officer he held since 2017. His retirement effective date was unclear; Rocket Cos. said it has no plans to replace his position at this time. 

"It was absolutely inspiring to take part in an amazing growth story of a great North American company," wrote Birkmeier in a LinkedIn post Thursday, thanking longtime Rocket executives and touting the future of the firm. 

Birkmeier's departure follows other executive changes at Rocket Cos., including the hiring of new Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Mildenhall in January and fintech executive Varun Krishna's naming as CEO of both Rocket Cos. and Rocket Mortgage last summer. 

Other recent moves include Rocket Mortgage's promotion of Austin Niemiec to chief revenue officer last January, while Mike Fawaz took his place in helming Rocket Pro TPO. 

Birkmeier began his career at the firm, then Rock Financial, in 1996 as a mortgage banker, according to the company. By 2009 he was vice president of mortgage banking. He was promoted from that position to chief revenue officer in 2017. 

As president, Birkmeier was responsible for, among other tasks, overseeing Rocket Mortgage's business partnerships. He also oversaw Rocket Connections, a business for contact center services, and Rocket Mortgage Canada. 

The company leader's appointment as president came toward the end of the pandemic refinance boom and amid huge origination volumes for the lender. Rocket, like other industry competitors, has seen its performance dip with soaring mortgage rates. In the most recent reporting period, Rocket posted a $233 million net loss in the fourth quarter, but an adjusted net loss of just $6 million.