Celebrity Agents, S.A., and the Downfall of Howard Lorber
Are the Alexander brothers real estate's Harvey Weinstein?
In August, Curbed ran a scathing article titled “Everyone Knew About the A-Team: How did the Alexander brothers become real-estate elites while allegedly raping or assaulting more than a dozen women?” At that point, at least 35 women, agents and otherwise, had come forward.
The Curbed article dug into accusations against the Alexander Brothers, real estate “celebrity” agents who built their business at Douglas Elliman before joining Side (a brokerage platform with an interesting model that I would like to explain at a later date) in 2022. During their decades at Elliman, the majority of their career, they were particularly close to one of its highest ranking executives: Howard Lorber. And many of the alleged attacks took place during this time.
News of these lawsuits had already surfaced — outlets including The Real Deal reported on the accusations with a timeline in June — but the Curbed article gained traction outside real estate circles. It also implicated the industry writ large (but especially Elliman/Lorber) for enabling the Alexanders and letting these attacks take place. Over 70 prior associates of the brothers were interviewed for the story, which I recommend you read in full if you can stomach it. This one is more “industry talk” but also very good.
I made a video about the scandal in August, and another this month about Elliman shareholders’ decision to renew Lorber’s executive board seat and pay him his entire multi-million dollar bonus, including a portion dedicated to DEI initiatives (for real, though). It seemed like business as usual for the Trump donor and developer, and I wondered if he’d ever be held responsible for his (alleged) role in all this. While Elliman, Lorber, etc. feign ignorance, agents who worked with the brothers say otherwise, and at least some of the women claim they told people at the company about assaults when they happened.
Then, on Tuesday, Lorber resigned from Elliman’s board. I was immediately curious; what had finally broken the camel’s back?
We do not know, but most assume it is new information about these allegations. There is a rumor, which I cannot confirm and do not claim as fact, that Lorber was present for at least one (alleged) attack. If that’s the reason he stepped down, we will likely find out eventually. But whether or not it’s true, I hope the industry doesn’t try to say “well, we got the only bad actor, case closed.” Because the problem is bigger than a couple guys and their old boss.
While the Alexander brothers are (alleged) rapists who don’t deserve more of our attention, their behavior teaches us about the outsize power of celebrity agents and top producers in general, even if they’re not famous, and the toxicity this dynamic creates.
In 2010, the L.A.-based Million Dollar Listing started casting for its East Coast debut. The agents who made it into the season, primarily former actors and the son of — guess who — Howard Lorber, became almost instant celebrities. To be clear, I’m not saying any of these people didn’t work hard. But their casting gave them a national platform, an opportunity not afforded most agents. And the primary concerns of a casting director — charisma and a flashy lifestyle — are not necessarily the traits required to help people achieve housing or follow the many complicated laws that govern real estate. This is also the case for the brokerage shows that have popped up since; shockingly, being a reality star doesn’t mean you’re good at real estate or a good person (although some are).
It’s not always a TV contract that catapults agents to “celebrity” status. Some build massive followings on social media, often by posting listing tours of impressive properties. As someone whose TikTok content is more “explaining, often angrily, while sitting in bed,” I truly respect their work. It takes much more time, energy, and editing to make videos like that. And as marketing homes becomes more and more digital, these accounts act as an agent’s resume. Unfortunately, like being cast on Bravo or HGTV, it doesn’t guarantee that these agents will be well informed, ethical, responsible, or kind, which are far more important in transactions than being good at video.
Celebrity status within the industry doesn’t always mean public fame. At (pretty much) every brokerage, there are agents with sweetheart deals: higher commission splits, stipends for assistants/marketing, guaranteed business, a mailing list with tens of thousands of people plus paid employees to help them write their daily newsletter, etc. Sometimes these agents were company founders whose departure would shake the brokerage’s reputation; sometimes they have leverage due to a low stock price and significant money lost in an IPO; sometimes they have connections to developers or billionaires with portfolios a brokerage wants to tap into. But whatever the reason, as the brokerages’ “cash cows,” they are held to different standards than the majority of agents.
Much like landlords can currently charge higher-than-market rent upon renewal because of the tenant-pays broker fee model, these agents can negotiate better and better contract terms because they hold so much power. Brokerages run on surprisingly low margins, and pay their bills using the commissions brought in by agents (along with per-agent desk/resource fees, received regardless of production, and “clawbacks” of thousands of dollars when agents switch firms). They need to be strategic with their hires, and will fight over established, high-producing agents and teams. He who has the “best” teams has the most clout and biggest market share. But when the market slows, brokerage income drops, and these whale agents gain even greater leverage to ask for larger bonuses/commission splits/deals. The more they take, the more fat needs to be cut elsewhere. This leads to employee layoffs and/or poorer services for the “normal” agents who make up a firm’s bread and butter but earn about 10% of what these top producers do.
Many of these overpowered agents are absolutely decent people. I do not fault them for getting their bag, provided they don’t take advantage of those who work for them and punch down. But in some cases, behavior is tolerated that would otherwise be grounds for dismissal. Even if we aren’t talking harassment, assault, etc, there are plenty of other rules one can break. The August Curbed article discusses shady business practices by the brothers that went so far as to harm the brokerage, but because of how much money the brothers brought in and/or their proximity to leadership, it was shrugged off. They’d become “too big to fail.”
At some firms, it is against the rules to solicit junior agents from other teams, but powerful agents will do it anyway, right out in the open. It’s almost universally forbidden to go after a seller who has a signed contract with a different agent, especially one at the same firm, but it happens. I’ve seen at least two instances where the perpetrator was allowed to stay at the company, in violation of the company’s own policies, regardless of the harmed agents’ feelings. Even if an agent is asked to leave for abhorrent behavior, they usually land elsewhere quickly, because the brokerage does not publicly explain what happened.
There’s an agent who — “allegedly” — had a multi-year affair with and harassed/abused a member of his team. The team member eventually shared evidence of this behavior with a large number of people at their brokerage, enough that it could not be swept under the rug. He was asked to leave, but the company did not publicly disclose why, and he was hired by another major firm two weeks later. He still runs a powerful team today.
We are not allowed — publicly or to clients — to disparage other agents, which is a good thing. But when taken too far and/or coupled with “good ol’ boy” syndrome, this creates a code of silence that facilitates abuse. Everyone is scared to say anything, especially about the power players. I’m not using any names that haven’t been reported — I’ve excluded stories where the person could be easily identified — and I’m still kinda scared of potential backlash. But hey, I’m already beefing with the Real Estate Board of New York, so I guess add it to the pile.
There are so many strong agents who are also good people and ethical business owners. Allowing the worst of the worst (the chaff of the crop?) to stay in power stops them from ascending. It makes good agents quit out of disgust or because they’re sick of being bullied. It scares people into silence, because they know that leadership won’t take their side. According to interviews in Curbed, the Alexander brothers didn’t just assault women, they poached clients from other agents, refused to pay bills, and regularly broke the rules. They knew they were untouchable.
Aside from the obvious “remember that rapists are bad and don’t protect them,” here’s my request to brokerages: be consistent with your policies. Do not have one rule for your besties and another for the single mom raising her kid while hustling in this unforgiving business, especially when you so regularly talk about wanting to support single mothers. Report abusers rather than sheltering them. Stop getting wasted, doing cocaine in your mid-50’s, and sexually harassing agents decades younger. Grow the fuck up and act like the professionals you are.
By and large, I think the way the public talks about real estate agents is unfair. When you work in pharmaceutical ad targeting, claiming moral superiority over someone helping a Section 8 tenant or first time homebuyer find housing is laughable. Agents did not cause the housing crisis and we are not in charge of how much housing costs. Most of us are not greedy assholes. I think a lot of the flack we get is rooted in sexism. But then something like this happens, and all their criticism is validated. We are monsters who care about nothing but money and our own egos.
I’m glad we, as an industry and as a society, can say goodbye to the Alexander brothers and Howard Lorber. I’m grateful that the media has picked up this story and isn’t letting it slide (in particular, I’m impressed by Curbed’s reporting tenacity). And I hope that those of us in real estate can take a long, hard look at what we allow in pursuit of the deal, of celebrity, of outsize power. Is your soul really worth that little?
xo
Anna