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About one week after Oren and Tal Alexander made known their plan to return to lead Official following their other cofounders’ exit, more information has come to light about how negotiations between the firm’s cofounders crumbled.
In June, the brothers signaled that they would be stepping away from their leadership roles at the brokerage after several women came forward with allegations of rape and sexual assault against them.
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As more lawsuits against the Alexanders emerged, and the FBI began its probe into the brothers’ conduct, Official’s remaining cofounders — Nicole Oge, Richard Jordan and Andrew Wachtfogel — launched into crisis management, distancing themselves from the brothers and making a point of saying their names were not synonymous with Official.
While agents and developers distanced themselves from Official, Oge, Jordan and Wachtfogel hit the road in early August to raise money and launch a rebrand of the firm, sources told The Real Deal.
Even before the three other cofounders could hit the road for their campaign to reset the brokerage’s reputation, by the end of July, the Alexanders were demanding a course of return, if or when their names were freed of all charges, The Real Deal’s source said.
The fundraising trip, which reportedly began in Aspen, was then suddenly halted “due to the friction playing out behind the scenes,” according to a source of The Real Deal’s.
As cofounders of the firm, Oge, Jordan and Wachtfogel had the capability to vote the Alexanders out of Official, but the Alexanders threatened legal action against them, and the trio had no desire to take part in a legal battle, sources said.
Tal and Oren Alexander denied the allegation that they had threatened their cofounders with legal action in a statement emailed to Inman from their attorney, James Cinque.
“As with much of The Real Deal hyperbole, the statement is false,” Tal and Oren said.
Still, Oge, Jordan and Wachtfogel decided to forfeit their ownership in the firm, and cut all ties as of Aug. 15, 2024. A representative for Oge, Jordan and Wachtfogel did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Shortly after the three cofounders’ departures, Tal and Oren communicated to Business Insider by way of Cinque, that they “are excited about their new lineup and will be announcing details very soon.”
Such an enthusiastic approach seems at odds with the gravity of their current situation, since upwards of two dozen women have now come forward with allegations against them — either to major news outlets or attorneys representing alleged victims — and since they are also now recipients of an FBI probe. At this point, it is unclear how much the Alexanders and Official as a firm can recover from such serious allegations and scrutiny.
The LA-based Tyrone McKillen, Brent Watson and Marco Salari have all now left Official, as well as at least seven agents in New York and Miami.
Oge, who has always been a pillar of Official, first began talks with Oren and Tal about launching a brokerage around 2019, according to The Real Deal’s sources. At that time, she was working with WeWork and later became an adviser for brokerage startup Casa Blanca, but previously had overlapped with the Alexanders at Douglas Elliman while working as the firm’s global chief marketing officer.
The Alexanders reportedly gave Douglas Elliman CEO Howard Lorber about a year’s notice before they left the firm to launch Official in 2022, The Real Deal’s sources said. Douglas Elliman then attempted to retain the brothers with a similar financial offer to what Side was offering them, according to text messages obtained by The Real Deal.
Elliman declined to comment to Inman.
Update: This story was updated on Aug. 29, 2024 with a response from Douglas Elliman.
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