Douglas Elliman is setting the report straight concerning the corporate’s tradition and its former chief, Howard Lorber.
The agency hit again at Ryan Serhant this week, issuing a cease-and-desist letter to the star dealer and brokerage founder who made a veiled reference to longtime Elliman chairman, Howard Lorber.
The letter, seen by The Actual Deal, comes after Serhant was recorded onstage describing a gathering with a brokerage head that led him to reject a proposal to work for the agency. Serhant didn’t identify the agency or government, however seemed to be describing Douglas Elliman’s former CEO and chairman, Howard Lorber, who stepped down from the firm in 2024 after more than 20 years.
“There was once a spot you’d go to, however the CEO of that firm made all his cash promoting cigarettes, predominantly to children within the South, and nobody else cared,” Serhant informed the group at his annual Promote It occasion held in late September, in line with a video posted to Instagram after the occasion, which has since been deleted.
The remark appeared to reference Lorber’s stake in tobacco large Liggett Group, which admitted in a 1997 settlement that tobacco giants focused youngsters of their promoting.
Serhant then described Lorber’s workplace, previously positioned on the 52nd flooring of 712 Fifth Avenue, the place he mentioned the chief “had a gun…which I believed was nuts.”
“I don’t assume I can do that. I don’t assume I can give you the results you want,” Serhant mentioned on the occasion.
However Serhant’s recounting of the assembly with Lorber was unsuitable, and amounted to “a public assault on a competitor,” Elliman mentioned within the letter.
“Opposite to the impression you created, you weren’t being recruited by Douglas Elliman, nor had been you introduced with a chance to hitch the corporate that you just then declined,” common counsel Deva Roberts wrote. “Reasonably, you initiated the assembly with Douglas Elliman’s CEO to current a enterprise proposal.”
“Your characterization of the assembly, and the suggestion that you just selected to not affiliate with
Douglas Elliman due to the statements and occasions you describe, is inaccurate and deceptive,” the letter says.
“You might be free to compete with Douglas Elliman. You aren’t free to invent or disseminate
false details to wreck its fame or enterprise.”
Serhant declined The Actual Deal’s request for touch upon the cease-and-desist.
Elliman’s tradition has come below shut scrutiny in recent times, after The Actual Deal first reported on lawsuits against Oren Alexander, a former star dealer and self-described mentee of Lorber, by two ladies alleging they had been drugged and raped by Alexander. Alexander and his two brothers had been convicted on 10 counts of intercourse trafficking after a five-week trial earlier this 12 months.
Lorber himself was drawn into the brokerage’s harsh spotlight within the months earlier than his exit by way of claims he knew of a minimum of one assault by the brothers on a fellow Elliman agent. It was later reported that he admitted in an internal inquiry to having intimate relationships with two of the corporate’s brokers.
Elliman initially mentioned Lorber’s sudden exit was not a results of any violation or battle with the corporate, however The Wall Road Journal reported days after Lorber’s departure that the board had urged him to retire after an investigation sparked by issues over the corporate’s tradition and its monetary troubles.
Elliman has previously denied any data of allegations in opposition to the Alexanders and Lorber’s doable data of any allegations.
Learn extra
WATCH: Trailer for Peacock’s Alexander brothers documentary
Corcoran, Elliman, BHS take a fight over listings data to New York court
Elliman’s AI overhaul raises questions about future of agents
