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avatar for Stephen Kotler

Stephen Kotler

COO, Douglas Elliman Real Estate

As Chief Operating Officer of Douglas Elliman, Stephen Kotler is responsible for the daily operations of the fourth largest real estate company in the United States, with a sales force of 5,500 agents, more than 75 domestic offices, and over $13 billion in annual sales. 

In his position as COO, Mr. Kotler helped engineer the company’s strategic expansion into new markets, including South Florida, Los Angeles and most recently Aspen Colorado.  He also spearheaded the redesign of the firm’s award winning corporate website, Elliman.com, an unprecedented digital platform that allows consumers to search not only the entire database of Elliman’s myriad of markets and services, and all listing's in the marketplace, including the competition’s.  

Mr. Kotler brings to the table over 30 years of experience in real estate sales and management.  A New Jersey native, after studying at Ithaca College he joined J.I. Sopher and Company in 1985, where he became general manager of the largest rental business in Manhattan.  In 1991 he joined Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York, where he formed the Kotler Group, the first agent team in a New York brokerage. For the next 15 years the team ranked among the top ten producing agents at Elliman, and in the top 1% of Prudential’s nationwide network of over 60,000 agents.  He was also the first rental agent at Douglas Elliman to earn $1 million in gross commissions.  Under his management, the company’s flagship 485 Madison Avenue offices ranked in the top five offices within the company for five consecutive years.  The Elliman rental division remains the second largest rental company in New York City.

Mr. Kotler also anticipated the growing demand for corporate relocation services as more companies expanded and became increasingly global in reach, and he represented international corporate relocations for clients including Goldman Sachs, J.P Morgan, American Express, Pfizer, and ING.    

In 2005, Mr. Kotler was responsible for the sale of 40 East 66th street to Vornado Real Estate for $158 million.

Perhaps one of his greatest achievements is the trailblazing corporate website that he helped create.  The website continues to set a standard for the rest of the industry as a go-to, one-stop platform for residential sales and services.  Among other accolades, the website won the 2012 Award of Excellence at the 19th Annual Communicator Awards. 

In addition, Mr. Kotler was the architect behind Douglas Elliman’s 2014 announcement of a Global Alliance with Knight Frank Residential. With 412 worldwide offices and over 17,000 brokers, Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank Residential have now created the largest platform to market properties of their clients to a global audience. 

Mr. Kotler, who has been profiled in numerous trade publications, is a Co-Chair of Real Estate Listing Service Committee at the Real Estate Board of New York, and a member of the Employee Relocation Council.  

The father of two grown children, he lives in West Chelsea, Manhattan. 

My Speakers Sessions

Friday, August 7
 

10:40am PDT