🗞️ Behind the family feud of the multibillion-dollar Sol Goldman empire | Inside the September 2024 Issue

Inside the latest issue of The Real Deal Sep 03, 2024 [View in Browser]( [Share](   [Magazine Cover Image]( All families fight. But when the family in question is a New York City real estate dynasty, there is a lot more money involved. And more drama. In our [cover story]( this month, “Sol that glitters isn’t gold,” we take a look at the private dispute spilling out in court that could tear apart the legendary Sol Goldman property empire. As senior reporter Rich Bockmann writes, Sol Goldman was widely acknowledged as the most successful real estate investor of his time, and built up a portfolio of 600 properties that once included the Chrysler Building. He died back in 1987, and in the 35 years following his death, the Goldman family led the kind of life that all families aspire to: “a quiet — if delicate — prosperity.” Goldman’s four adult children inherited the estate. But that peace was shattered two and a half years ago when one of them, Allan, died at age 78. Since then his 33-year-old son, Steven (a champion poker player and Wharton MBA grad), and Amy (who has largely been absent from the business, pursuing her passion as a renowned horticulturist) have challenged youngest sister Jane’s control of the family business in a bitter affair their attorneys likened to a real-life version of the HBO show “Succession.” Families are complicated. And death can bring up all sorts of unresolved emotions. That’s especially true in a wildly successful family like the Goldmans, who built their fortune over generations and have spawned progeny that make big cultural contributions as well as financial ones. It makes the break-up all the more tragic. In his 5,000 word piece, Bockmann does a meticulous job detailing the family drama playing out in a Delaware courtroom. It reads like a novel, except instead of adultery and addiction, there are lots of LLCs and financial documents. It’s spare prose poetry, of a sort, about love, loss and spreadsheets. The best part about the Goldmans’ story is that it’s relatable. Nobody drives their car off a cliff, or gets addicted to heroin. The most overt drama is that someone “slammed the door and went away screaming so loud that she could be heard in the hallway.” It’s how real adults battle it out, even when there are billions of dollars on the line. Check out the story on page 40. We’ve got more on real estate dynasties elsewhere in the issue. On page 26, “Daughters of Industry” looks at the [women of real estate’s]( most influential families. As reporters Kathryn Brenzel, Elizabeth Cryan and Katherine Kallergis write, “for a long time, succession in real estate remained the purview of male relatives.” Now, however, “it is no longer a foregone conclusion that the next in line will be a son.” That’s true at the nearly century old Rudin Management, where Samantha Rudin Earls recently ascended to co-CEO. We sit down for a [Closing interview]( with her on page 88. There is a reason many of these dynasties want to stay out of the public eye — there is already plenty of scrutiny as a public company. That’s true even if you are not a dynasty. Case in point: [Douglas Elliman](. As reporter Sheridan Wall writes in a story on page 58, Douglas Elliman’s third summer as a public company has been even worse than the first two. “Pick your problem: a share price dipping as low as $1, its eighth quarterly loss in a row, an activist calling out the chairman for poor financial performance, or sexual assault allegations against two of the brokerage’s former top agents,” Wall notes. Elliman — like the rest of the industry — is hoping for lower interest rates this autumn that will spur activity in the market, which could help its profitability. After all, boosting the bottom line is usually easier than solving family feuds. [Enjoy the issue](. Editor's Note Stuart Elliott Editor-in-Chief & CEO   If you’re interested in receiving future magazine issues in print, sign up for our [annual subscription](. Save $20 OFF with promo code: MAG20 [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   Inside the family feud of the multibillion-dollar Sol Goldman empire As Sol Goldman’s loved ones sat shiva for him in late 1987, the matter of who would lead his vast empire loomed as large as the Chrysler Building. Goldman, widely acknowledged as the most successful real estate investor of his time, had spoken with each of his four adult children about his will, which named his youngest daughter Jane and her brother Allan as co-executors of his estate. In the 35 years following Sol’s death, the Goldman family maintained a quiet — if delicate — prosperity. The adamantly private family has avoided the limelight that comes with running one of New York’s largest real estate portfolios. (These things are tough to put a figure on, but it’s been said to be worth anywhere from $4 billion to $16 billion.) But that peace was shattered two and a half years ago when Allan died at age 78 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Since then, his 33-year-old son, Steven, and Allan's sister Amy have challenged Jane’s control of the family business in a bitter affair their attorneys likened to a real-life version of the HBO show “Succession.” [READ MORE](   [Image]( More daughters from real estate dynasties join the family business Just when she thought she was out, she got pulled back in. An inherited real estate firm might not have the pull of Al Pacino’s family business in “The Godfather Part III,” but the daughters of industry titans are finding themselves drawn to the business, often after imagining careers outside of real estate. Some got in after a key internship, while others seemingly changed their minds about the kind of roles they saw for themselves at their firms the longer they worked side by side with a parent. Still others intuited that there might be more ladder to climb than there had been for their mothers or aunts and settled — if not at the top — at the top of a department.   [Image]( New York office stuck in limbo In Dante’s “Inferno,” there are nine layers of hell, each marking a deeper descent into depravity. New York commercial real estate has been stuck in Dante’s first level: limbo. Deal volume is low. Companies are noncommittal on return-to-work policies. Banks are reluctant to foreclose. The predicted doom loop has yet to occur. Prices just won’t reset. Heaven isn’t close. But we haven’t fallen into hell, though fiery might be preferable to dull. “Kicking the can is not a great strategy because values are not just coming back up,” said Scott Rechler, RXR’s overlord.   [Image]( LA’s top resi brokers continue to close It’s been a tough stretch for Los Angeles’ residential brokers, but that hasn’t stopped its top dealmakers from closing. Brokers have faced high interest rates, uncertainty around the National Association of Realtors’ new rules, insurers fleeing the state and the city’s Measure ULA transfer tax. “Because of ULA, Beverly Hills and Malibu have commanded the most sales and the highest prices,” The Beverly Hills Estates CEO Rayni Williams said. She, along with husband Branden, ranked No. 2 on The Real Deal’s annual list of L.A.’s top brokers.   [Image]( The last piece of paradise: Palm Beach battles for its only major dev site left The room burst into applause. That’s not typical for development review meetings. But Maggie Zeidman, then-president of Palm Beach’s Town Council, had just suggested a new park in the heart of the island, one block away from the beach. “Whoever owns it gets to make it a park,” she said in the January meeting. “So I just leave it out there for you, if you can make that happen, if a group of you can make that happen.” The call to action was clear: Zeidman wanted her neighbors to cobble together the money for the park. It could have been ripped from an earnest screenplay, this idea of neighbors banding together to save the town from a developer looking to pave paradise. They would need at most, Zeidman estimated, half a billion dollars.   [Image]( State regulators slow to act when Illinois brokers behave badly Three years ago, Beatriz Merino found the home of her dreams — a blue house with a broad front porch and enough rooms for each of her children on Hampshire Lane in Elgin, a western Chicago suburb. She gave her real estate agent, Chicago broker Diego Torres of Expo Realty, a check for $16,470, at his request, to serve as a down payment on the home in February 2021. Torres only allowed her to see the property from the outside because, he said, it was occupied while going through foreclosure and would be sold at auction, Merino recalled. In the months that followed, Merino followed up with Torres about the deal. He explained away the delay of the sale each time. Eventually, she asked for her money back.   [The Closing: Samantha Rudin Earls]( INTERVIEWS WITH REAL ESTATE TITANS [Image]( Rudin Management’s co-CEO on tradition, succession and why real estate is less stressful than theater auditions   Samantha Rudin Earl’s office inside 345 Park Avenue — the birthplace of the Blackstone Group and a symbol of the Rudin family’s role fostering global commerce — is pink. Not full-on “Barbie pink,” more like decorated with rosé accents. “I’m very visual,” said Samantha, who in October was named co-CEO of Rudin Management along with her brother, Michael, taking over for their father, Bill, and uncle Eric. Samantha’s office is filled with reminders that hers is a family business. There’s an antique desk that belonged to her grandfather and a smaller one beside it where daughter Elle, now age 12, sat when she was even younger. There is a small statue commemorating the Rudins’ sale of 55 Broad Street to Larry Silverstein and Nathan Berman, though the family kept a stake so they could learn more about office-to residential conversions. There’s also a sign that reads “What would Beyoncé do?” Samantha sat down with The Real Deal to talk about succession, the residential market and the drama of being a Rudin. 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