Zillow.com cuts staff by 25 percent

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zillow.com, a real estate website, on Friday cut 25 percent of its staff, or 40 employees, in advance of what the company's chief executive called a "major economic storm."

"Despite having sizeable cash reserves, we deemed the responsible course was to meaningfully reduce expenses so that Zillow emerges from the other side of the recession in a very strong position, even if the recession lasts many years," CEO Rich Barton wrote in a blog on the company's website.

"The unprecedented economic events that are playing out on a global stage began in our own industry and have made a prolonged recession likely, in our judgment. We are a young company that is not yet making a profit."

According to company spokeswoman Amy Bohutinsky, privately held Zillow has raised $87 million in financing, with its last round coming in summer of 2007.

Zillow's investors include Benchmark Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.

The site displays a wide array of data about houses and real estate and allows users to search maps for home listings, and check price estimates and recent sales.

The Seattle-based company's site was launched in February 2006. It recorded 5.4 million unique visitors in September, up 42 percent from last year.

Barton founded online travel site Expedia at Microsoft Corp in 1994, then became CEO when it was spun out in 1999.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Gary Hill)