Who really owns NYC’s real estate firms?

From the February issue:  To outsiders, it may be hard to distinguish between New York City’s big real estate firms. But behind the scenes, even firms of similar sizes and reputations can have vastly different ownership structures. Many of the city’s residential brokerages, for example, have long been privately owned by families. Others have large, publicly traded corporate parents. Still other owners have silent parents, or offer their brokers the opportunity to own a piece of the firm. [more]