Bess Freedman

Chief Executive Officer, Brown Harris Stevens

Freedman has made a name for herself as a proudly progressive voice and also as an outspoken critic of her industry rivals — all while growing her firm’s stature. 

BHS has always lagged behind the city’s perennial top three, Corcoran, Compass and Douglas Elliman. But after taking the reins at BHS in 2018 (following a career as a legal aid attorney), Freedman has worked to bring the stodgy brokerage into the 21st century by improving its tech and operations. She also has taken firm progressive political stances, going so far as to reimburse employees who needed to travel out of state for reproductive care following the overturning of Roe vs. Wade in 2022. 

But if there’s been a defining feature of Freedman’s tenure, it’s been for pushing back against industry disruption.She emerged as one of the chief critics of StreetEasy in New York and pushed for the ultimately doomed effort of brokerages syndicating listings themselves through the Real Estate Board of New York. StreetEasy now counts itself as the dominant marketplace for listings in the city.

Recently, she has gone toe-to-toe with Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, criticizing the executive for trying to hoard listings away from the competing brokerages in his push for private listings. 

In some ways, the dustups have a similar flavor. Freedman, running one of the few, large privately-held brokerages, fighting for the (comparatively) little guy — just like she always has.