“How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth.” – Margaret Heffernan
Superstar real estate broker Oren Alexander warned a senior executive at Douglas Elliman that he might one day be publicly accused of sexual assault.
Alexander and his brother were bringing in billions. Why trouble HR? Why alert the board? Why bother with an investigation?
This was more than a decade ago, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2024. But the party went on.
The Journal interviewed more than 50 people and documented allegations stretching back to the brothers’ high-school years.
On Tuesday, Oren, Tal and their brother Alon were each sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sex trafficking and sexual abuse.
Now Douglas Elliman is left to explain what it knew, what it should have done, and why nobody wanted to spoil the party.
The publicly traded firm denies knowing about the brothers’ crimes and plans to vigorously defend itself against victim’s pending lawsuits.
The case is yet another example of how wealth, celebrity and rainmaker status can allow powerful people to get away with appalling behavior.
It is among the uglier recurring scandals of our times, from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation to Harvey Weinstein’s predation in Hollywood. The richer the predator, the more those around them have too much to lose by speaking up.
Oren Alexander, 39, and Tal Alexander, 40, were practically celebrities in the ultra-high-end real estate market as the Alexander team at Douglas Elliman. Their father, Shlomy Alexander, emigrated from Israel and founded Kent Security Services in Miami in 1982. He later went into luxury real estate development and helped launch his sons into the business.
The two bros have brokered some of the priciest properties in Florida, New York and California. They made headlines in 2019 for selling a 24,000-square-foot penthouse at 220 Central Park South for $238 million to billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin.
They lured victims to events, parties, private clubs and luxury trips by flashing their wealth and influence. Alon, 39, who is Oren’s twin brother, wasn’t involved in real estate but he was prosecuted for his role in the sex-trafficking conspiracy.
This went on from 2008 to at least 2021. The stories circulated for years. Oren himself warned an Elliman executive. Yet the firm maintains it had no knowledge of sexual-assault allegations against its star brokers.
The firm allegedly “knowingly directed, enabled, participated in, and/or conspired with the Alexander Brothers in the commission of the crimes,” according to one of two pending victim lawsuits against Douglas Elliman.
It also alleges its CEO “Howard Lorber, and other senior leadership, had knowledge of Oren Alexander’s propensity to sexually abuse women but continued to fund, facilitate, and promote the sex trafficking scheme.”
The legal bills are mounting, Douglas Elliman stock has cratered, and more than 100 brokers have left the firm.
Nevertheless, its revenues are still rising. Apparently, some of the wealthiest clients in the world don’t care who sells their properties, as long as they sell.
As long as the rainmakers keep making it pour.
