Who Runs Real Estate?
That’s the question The Real Deal’s reporters and editors ask as each year shifts into gear. Who gets deals done, gets money moving into projects, gets shovels going?
Those big players in the market are the main characters of our pages. We track the builders and dealmakers in every segment of the industry, from commercial to residential, development to finance. We follow the brokers and their bosses, the marketers and money.
And we make it our business to sort out the big leaguers from the wannabes.
Real estate is a complicated game. There’s no absolute measure of victory or definitive moment of triumph. The most brilliant developers sometimes come up with a dud. Even the wiliest brokers can’t close every deal. So to make our list of the 100 most important people in real estate, we had to look at our data, talk with sources, read copious amounts of coverage here in TRD and elsewhere and, of course, have a spirited newsroom debate. Now we offer our lists of the 100 most important people in each of the markets we cover.
Each person on our list merits a biography and most have already received their fair share of TRD coverage (for better or worse). You can read our notes on all of them by clicking on the picture next to their name.
Together, they paint a colorful picture of a complex industry. In working on this project we’ve started to map the many ways people even in seemingly disparate sections of real estate work together, and gotten a better understanding of how outside forces play a powerful role in shaping private industry.
But keep in mind – real estate’s wheels of power and fortune are always turning. We’ll be revisiting this list every year to see what new characters are rising to the top, who’s falling off, and who’s staying carefully balanced at their peak.
Thanks for reading.
Ben Ashkenazy
Chief Executive Officer
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation
Nicholas Silvers and Dov Barnett
Founding Partners
Tavros
Gary Barnett
Managing Principal
Extell Development
Albert Behler
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman
Paramount Group
Nathan Berman
Managing Principal
MetroLoft Management
Christopher Schlank and Nicholas Bienstock
Co-Chairman, President; Co-chairman, Chief Executive Officer
Savanna
David Bistricer
Chief Executive Officer
Clipper Equity
Noble Black
Founder, Noble Black & Partners
Jeff Blau
Chief Executive Officer
Related Companies
Serena Boardman
Broker
Sotheby's International Realty
Daniel Brodsky
Chief Executive Officer
Brodsky Organization
Ben Brown
Co-President of Real Estate; Head of the Americas Region
Brookfield Properties
Joseph Cayre
Founder
Midtown Equities
Sam Charney
Principal
Charney Companies
Joseph Chetrit
Co-founder
Chetrit Group
Carrie Chiang
Broker
Corcoran
Adi Chugh
Chief Executive Officer
TYKO Capital
Andrew Chung
Chief Executive Officer
Innovo Property Group
Steve Cohen
Founder, Majority Owner
Point72 Asset Management
Charles Cohen
President
Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation
Jamie Dimon
Chief Executive Officer
JPMorgan Chase
Douglas and Jody Durst
Chairman; President
Durst Organization
Simon Dushinsky
Founder, Principal
Rabsky Group
Douglas Eisenberg
Chief Executive Officer
A&E
Tom Elghanayan
Chair, Chief Executive Officer
TF Cornerstone
The LeFrak Family
Owners and directors
LeFrak
The Trump Family
Founder; Co-Executive Vice Presidents
The Trump Organization
The Kushner Family
Owners
Kushner Companies
Clayton Orrigo and Stephen Ferrara
Co-founders, Hudson Advisory Team
Compass
Nikki Field
Founder, Field Team
Sotheby’s International
Winston Fisher
Partner
Fisher Brothers
Bess Freedman
Chief Executive Officer
Brown Harris Stevens
Kathryn Wylde and Steve Fulop
Outgoing & Incoming President and CEOs
Partnership for New York City
Maryanne Gilmartin
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
MAG Partners
Steve Gold
Broker
Corcoran
Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes
Founders, the Eklund-Gomes Team
Lisa Gomez
Chief Executive Officer
L+M Development Partners
Barry Gosin
Chief Executive Officer
Newmark
Meyer Orbach and Josh Gotlib
Chairman; Chief Executive Officer
GO Partners
Jon Gray
President, Chief Operating Officer
Blackstone
Francis Greenburger
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
Time Equities
Jeffrey Gural
Chair and Principal
GFP Real Estate
Jason Haber
Co-Founder
American Real Estate Association
Jason Hart
Managing Director, US Real Estate
Carlyle Group
Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York
Marc Holliday
Chief Executive Officer
SL Green
Suri Kasirer
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Frances Katzen
Broker
Douglas Elliman
Deborah Kern
Broker
Corcoran
Louis and Joel Kestenbaum
Chairman; President and Chief Executive Officer
Fortis Property Group
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