The women groomed to take over NYC’s top real estate firms

Laurie Zucker, Ivanka Trump, Helena Durst poised to lead their respective family businesses

From left: Laurie Zucker, Helena Durst, Samantha Rudin Earls and Ivanka Trump
From left: Laurie Zucker, Helena Durst, Samantha Rudin Earls and Ivanka Trump

Who run the New York real estate world? Girls.

Women, often at family-run companies, are increasingly being groomed for the top jobs in New York’s real estate industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. One of the first women to head the family business will likely be Laurie Zucker, 58, daughter to the Zucker Organization’s Donald Zucker. It’s still unclear when her father will step down, but when he does, she will be the head of the organization, which currently manages about 2,800 apartments.

Women are also rising through the ranks at other New York real estate dynasties. At the Trump Organization, Ivanka Trump — daughter to the Donald and wife to the Kushner Companies’ Jared Kushner — has been increasingly involved with her father’s U.S. deals. At the Durst Organization, Helena Durst runs the New York Water Taxi and has been involved with a number of big transactions. And Samantha Rudin Earls, together with her brother Michael Rudin, could be the future head of Rudin Management.

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“The daughters are starting to move up,” MaryAnn Tighe, chief executive of CBRE Group Inc.’s New York region and one of the city’s top women real-estate executives told the Wall Street Journal. “The barriers still exist. But there are holes in the barriers and if you are persistent enough you can push yourself through the openings.” [WSJ] — Claire Moses