Alon Alexander, his twin Oren and their older brother Tal, all known as successful real estate executives, have been accused of abusing women for years, according to several lawsuits filed in March and July 2024.
The latest lawsuit – the 4th – was filed last week, according to Daily Beast. Debra Kamin, reporter for The New York Timesheard personal accounts of drugging and sexual assault from 10 women while writing a recent article about the Alexander brothers and interviewed more than 40 real estate brokers, executives and industry experts in California, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and New York.
“They built an image of jet-setting bachelors, filling their social media with photos from Wimbledon, Art Basel and the beach at Mykonos. They took calls between ice baths after sessions with their personal trainers. Their traditional good looks and magnetism attracted ultra-wealthy clients who propelled the brothers, surpassing thousands of other agents, to the top of the ranks of Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate brokerages in the country.
But as the brothers partied and sold co-ops and condos from Manhattan to Miami, they were quietly earning another reputation: allegations that they drugged and sexually assaulted women were spreading throughout the high-end real estate world,” reporter Kamin summarized.
Still, they continued to climb: in 2019 when they helped broker a nearly $240 million penthouse, at the time the most expensive residential sale in U.S. history. By 2022 they had co-founded their own real estate brokerage, Official.
But in June of this year, “their reign as real estate princes ended. What had long been shared among brokers finally came to light, after The Real Deala real estate industry publication, first reported that women had filed lawsuits against the brothers.”
“These were allegations that were so widespread that they were common knowledge in the residential real estate industry for more than a decade” https://t.co/XnBsjjx1eX
— Dana Rubinstein (@danarubinstein) July 24, 2024
Two women sued Oren for assault, along with his twin brother Alon – both 37 – who did not work in real estate but socialized frequently with his brothers. A third woman sued the twins and their older brother, Tal (38). The brothers denied all allegations of sexual assault, but Tal and Oren resigned from their own company.
Over the past two months, The New York Timess interviewed 10 women who said they had been drugged and/or sexually assaulted by the brothers. Some of them spoke out for the first time, including Tracy Tutor, a top broker for Douglas Elliman Beverly Hills and one of the stars of the reality show “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.” Seven of the women said they believed they had been drugged and put in a fog that erased or clouded their memory.
“I still have a hard time remembering the details,” said Tutor, 48. She said she shared a drink with Oren Alexander at a cocktail party in 2014 and then passed out. “Remaining silent for so long has been damaging on so many levels, and remembering what happened now is debilitating.”
Dozens of former classmates, brokerage employees and agents told The New York Times that they had knowledge of drug and violent sexual assault by the brothers, dating back at least 20 years, to when they were high school students.
Douglas Elliman leaders were aware of allegations that Tal and Oren may have been drugging women, but the brokerage continued to support the successful duo, said five real estate professionals who told executives about the incidents or were told about them by company executives.
In a statement, Stephen Larkin, a spokesman for Douglas Elliman, said one incident had been raised casually and confidentially with the chief executive without specifying who may have been involved, rather than in the form of an official HR complaint. “Had allegations of this type been received, they would have been thoroughly investigated,” he said.
When the Alexander brothers were starting their own agency, some real estate professionals tried to dissuade brokerage Side from backing them. But Side partnered with them anyway, three real estate professionals said.
Side says he was not aware of any claims ever being made against anyone at the brokerage, a spokeswoman, Katherine Mechling, said in a statement.
All charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if you are a minor or an elderly person:
I looked for help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Check information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org