The CEO of Douglas Elliman was elected as a director of the company during the annual stockholders meeting, alongside David K. Chene and Patrick J. Bartels. This decision was met with some discontent from certain shareholders.
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During the stockholders meeting, there was no call for the replacement of CEO Howard Lorber or for the clawback of his 2023 bonus, despite some shareholders advocating for these actions.
About three weeks prior, shareholder Bradley Tirpak wrote a letter urging fellow investors to let Lorber’s contract expire at the end of the year and seek a new full-time CEO to lead the company towards stronger financial stability.
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Tirpak also urged shareholders to vote against a proposal on executive compensation, elect directors annually to align compensation with stockholder returns, and called for the clawback of Lorber’s 2023 bonus. He also recommended hiring a new compensation consultant due to the company failing to meet certain financial targets.
In light of recent allegations against former top brokers at the firm, Oren and Tal Alexander, Tirpak questioned Lorber’s 2023 bonus award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Despite these concerns, Douglas Elliman clarified that no formal HR complaints were lodged against the Alexanders during their tenure with the company.
Advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) made recommendations in line with Tirpak’s suggestions prior to the stockholders meeting.
At the meeting, Lorber, David K. Chene, and Patrick J. Bartels were elected as directors by the majority of stockholders. While Chene and Bartels received around 56.6 million votes each, Lorber had approximately 44.7 million votes. More votes were withheld from Lorber compared to the other directors.
Stockholders also ratified Deloitte & Touche LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for the rest of the year.
Contrary to Tirpak’s desires, stockholders approved the compensation of Douglas Elliman’s executive officers, indicating that substantial changes to compensation policies were not imminent.
However, stockholders did vote in favor of a proposal to declassify the Board of Directors, enabling annual director elections. This gives stockholders the authority to vote for different directors at the next annual meeting if they deem the company’s performance unsatisfactory.
Douglas Elliman’s financial performance improved in the second quarter of 2024, with consolidated revenues and gross transaction volume showing year-over-year growth. The company also reduced its net loss compared to the previous year.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Howard Lorber was a part-time CEO of Douglas Elliman; his role is full-time.
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Email Lillian Dickerson