How do you become the richest self-made woman in real estate? For Dorothy Herman, the path to success includes surviving childhood trauma and raising a daughter as a teenager.
Nicknamed Dottie, she joins Forbes’ second annual richest self-made women list this year with an estimated $270 million net worth. It’s all thanks to the real estate brokerage empire she started building in the 1990s, first with PrudentialLong Island Realty and later with storied brokerage house Douglas Elliman.
“You have to be passionate about what to do. Not that I grew up and wanted to be a real estate person. I didn’t. But opportunity presents itself and I think most people don’t take advantage of it or they’re afraid to. They are afraid of failing. I was not,” Herman told Forbes.
Herman, 63, has made a fortune selling multi-million dollar homes to New York’s elite in the Hamptons and Manhattan. As co-owner and CEO, she led Douglas Elliman to sell $22 billion worth of homes in 2015, netting $600 million in sales. Today, the firm has over 6,000 agents in 85 nationwide offices.
There’s even a partnership with Knight Frank’s outfit in London to bring international buyers into the fold. In all, that makes Douglas Elliman the fourth largest brokerage house in the country, according to REAL Trends’ annual ranking. It’s also the biggest in New York City. Herman and her business partner Howard Lorber, who is CEO of publicly traded holding company Vector Group, purchased Douglas Elliman for $72 million in 2003. Back then, it netted just $100 million in sales from $4 billion in homes sold.
Born Dorothy D’Ambrosio, Herman’s life has been a rags-to-riches tale. When she was 10, her family got into a car crash on the way back to Long Island from a ski vacation in Vermont.
The crash killed her mother, left her father disabled and, for the next several years, brought on seizures for Herman, who was thrown from the car.
No matter. She pressed on, taking care of her two younger siblings while her father recovered and spent two years on disability. “You can either be a victim or you can take a day or two, cry, and then get back in the game,” says Herman.