Two real estate scions are going head to head over the fate of their fledgling company.
Emir Bahadir, the 24-year-old co-founder of newbie brokerage RLTY NYC, has filed suit against his business partner Ben Benalloul, alleging Benalloul’s nonstop partying and reckless spending are running the firm aground. For his part, Benalloul dismisses the allegations as slanderous and plans to counter-sue.
Bahadir claims Benalloul treated the brokerage as his personal nightclub and piggy bank, lavishing funds on nightclubs, skipping work after all-night benders and harassing female employees.
“Even in the well-documented world of high-stake[s] real estate brokerage, where extreme conduct and egomania are commonplace, the actions of Benalloul go beyond the pale,” Bahadir said in the complaint, filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court. He’s asking a judge to dissolve the company so as that the owners can go their separate ways.
When reached for comment Monday, Bahadir said he was moving to dissolve the firm because “I can’t have him [Benalloul] destroy everything that I’ve been working on. I never want to see him in my life.”
Benalloul vehemently denies the allegations, calling them slanderous and libelous. He said he plans to counter-sue for $100 million.
“Every single item in the lawsuit is false,” he said.
It should be noted that Bahadir is no stranger to a good time himself. The broker, who hails from a prominent Turkish real estate family, is featured in the upcoming reality docu-series “Rich Kids of Instagram.” For his 24th birthday last summer, he reportedly flew 40 of his closest friends, including Saudi princess Noura Al Sudairi, to a private island in Turkey.
Bahadir, Benalloul, and Benalloul’s father Albert Benalloul founded RLTY NYC in 2014, with each partner holding a third of the business. The company has offices in New York and Miami.
Last year, the brokerage represented hedge-fund manager Harvey Sandler and his wife Phyllis in their $34 million acquisition of a unit at One57. The firm also once had the exclusive on fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt’s $25 million Upper East Side townhouse.
But the relationship between the founders began to break down over the past year, the court filings show. Bahadir alleges Benalloul’s alcohol and drug abuse became so flagrant that he repeatedly trashed the company offices and showed up to meetings looking like a wreck.
In March, Bahadir says Benalloul demanded reimbursement for a $35,000 personal loan, which he’d used to pay for a flashy suite at the One Hotel in Miami. Benalloul denied asking for reimbursement, saying he’d paid for the hotel out of his personal account.
Albert Benalloul declined to comment.