Douglas Elliman real estate brokerage has promoted president and chief operating officer Scott Durkin to chief executive officer.
Durkin was appointed by executive chairman Howard Lorber and Dottie Herman, who previously served as CEO.
“As president and COO of Douglas Elliman, Scott has taken our firm to the next level with major initiatives to strengthen our brand, our culture, our technology and most importantly, the way our agents conduct their business,” Lorber said. “He has established himself as a highly valued and respected executive and I am very proud to make this announcement.”
“It is a thrill to pass the CEO title to my friend Scott Durkin whose career I have watched since acquiring Elliman in 2003 when I joined the New York City brokerage community,” Herman said. “Elliman is in excellent and very capable hands.”
Herman has been appointed vice chair, where she will serve as an adviser to Lorber and Durkin and mentor the company’s executives and agents across the country.
Durkin started as executive vice president of acquisitions and growth at Elliman in 2015. In 2016, he became chief operating officer and was named president of the brokerage in 2017.
Elliman credits Durkin as the driving force behind the company’s updated public relations, technology and marketing platforms, along with the firm’s rebranding, advertising and social media campaigns over the past two years.
In Westchester, Connecticut and the Hamptons, Durkin led an operations restructuring initiative. He also helped expand Elliman offices around the country.
“Douglas Elliman has proven to be my most rewarding professional experience to date,” Durkin said. “I look forward to expanding upon the legacy of our brand built by my friend and mentor Dottie Herman as the market leader in luxury real estate. I also welcome the opportunity to further advance our technology-focused initiatives that allow our agents to work faster and more efficiently on behalf of their customers and clients.”
Elliman is the largest brokerage in the New York metropolitan area and one of the largest residential real estate brokerages in the United States. From June 2020 to June 2021, Douglas Elliman reported that it closed nearly $43 billion in sales.
