Naples was just a fishing village when John R. Wood Properties was founded in 1958, a far cry from the high-end retiree and vacation haven it is today. In those 65 years, both the real estate brokerage and the area it serves have grown tremendously, and the firm’s almost $3.5 billion in sales volume as of the end of November 2023 puts it about $1 billion ahead of its closest area competitor.
Phil Wood, current president and CEO of John R. Wood Properties, joined the family firm, founded by his father, John R. Wood, in 1976. Back then he was just the ninth agent at the company. (He became president of the company in 1986 and CEO in 2010.) Today some 850 John R. Wood agents and about 90 other staff members work with buyers and sellers all over Southwest Florida.