Douglas Elliman COO Richard Lampen Retires

Douglas Elliman’s chief operating officer Richard Lampen has retired.

The 71-year-old executive stepped down from his role at the company on Friday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which described his departure as voluntary. He will continue to serve on the firm’s board of directors as a non-employee member.

Lampen is also the head of operations at New Valley Ventures, a real estate tech company and subsidiary of Elliman and a member of the company’s board of directors. He was previously an executive at Vector Group alongside Lorber until the firm sold to Japanese tobacco company JT Group, the deal for which closed in October.

Lampen is forfeiting over a million shares in unvested stock as a result of his departure, according to another SEC filing. Lampen owns close to a 3 percent stake in Elliman, with 2.3 million shares worth roughly $4 million, according to Simply Wall St.

Last year, Lampen took home a sizable bonus based, in part, on last year’s performance, despite Elliman stacking up quarterly losses and cutting costs. His compensation in 2023 was roughly $3 million, including a base salary of $683,000. The total was up from just $1.3 million in 2022, according to the firm’s amended annual report.

Lampen’s exit marks the latest executive shakeup at the firm since longtime chairman and CEO Howard Lorber abruptly retired from his post in October. Days later, the company terminated the CEO of its brokerage division, Scott Durkin, though his attorney pushed back on that characterization.

Lampen’s departure is a planned retirement and unrelated to Lorber and Durkin’s exits, a source told TRD.

Elliman tapped Michael Liebowitz, a member of Elliman’s board since its spin-off from former parent company Vector Group in 2021, as Lorber’s replacement. The firm promoted Richard Ferrari, the head of sales in the New York and Northeast regions, to take Durkin’s place.

Lorber’s departure came at the urging of the firm’s board of directors following an internal investigation into the company’s culture, the Wall Street Journal reported. Elliman previously said the 76-year-old executive’s exit was not related to a dispute with the company, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The former executive later admitted to having intimate relationships with two of the company’s brokers, Bloomberg reported. Lorber disclosed the relationships as part of an internal inquiry, following news of rape allegations against two of its former top producers, Tal and Oren Alexander.

The brothers, along with Oren’s twin, Alon Alexander, were arrested in Miami Beach early Wednesday morning and are facing federal sex trafficking charges. Bloomberg reported on Monday that the Department of Justice was preparing to collect records about the Alexanders from the brokerage. The company also ordered staff to preserve all communications with them.