Executive Management

Howard M. Lorber serves as our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and as Executive Chairman of Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC. Mr. Lorber has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE: VGR) since January 2006.

Throughout his career, Mr. Lorber has successfully led numerous corporations and, at different times, held positions simultaneously. He serves as Executive Chairman of Nathan’s Famous Inc. (NASDAQ: NATH) and a director of Clipper Realty, Inc. (NYSE: CLPR). He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE American: LTS) from September 2006 until February 2020, when the company was acquired by Advisor Group, a portfolio company of Reverence Capital Partners. In 2017, Mr. Lorber received a Presidential appointment to serve as Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He also serves on the board of Garden of Dreams, as Chairman of Southampton Hospital Foundation, and Co-Chairman of the Silver Shield Foundation–a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance towards the educational costs of children of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Mr. Lorber holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Master of Science degree in Taxation, and an Honorary Doctorate from Long Island University, where he is also a trustee.

Richard J. Lampen serves as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Lampen was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Vector Group Ltd. in January 2021 and has served as Vector’s Executive Vice President since 1995. Mr. Lampen has been a director of Vector since January 2021 and also serves as a member of the Board of Managers of our subsidiary, Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC.

Most recently, Mr. Lampen served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (“Ladenburg”), a publicly traded diversified financial services company, from September 2006 to February 2020 when the company was acquired by Advisor Group, a portfolio company of Reverence Capital Partners. Mr. Lampen also served as Chairman of Ladenburg Thalmann from September 2018 until the company was acquired. From October 2008 until October 2019, Mr. Lampen served as President and Chief Executive Officer and was a member of the Board of Directors of Castle Brands Inc. (“Castle”), a publicly traded spirits company, prior to its acquisition by Pernod Ricard. Vector held an approximate 10% interest in Ladenburg and an approximate 8% equity interest in Castle.

Mr. Lampen serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Frost Science Museum in Miami and as a member of the National Board of the American Jewish Committee. Mr. Lampen is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Financial Services Institute and the past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Ransom Everglades School and is a director and past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Miami Children’s Museum.

Prior to joining Vector in 1995, Mr. Lampen was a partner at Steel Hector & Davis, a law firm located in Miami, Florida. Previously, Mr. Lampen was a Managing Director at Salomon Brothers Inc. Mr. Lampen has served as a director of a number of companies, including Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc., Castle Brands Inc., Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, New Valley Corporation, U.S. Can Corporation, Spec’s Music Inc. and The International Bank of Miami, N.A., as well as a court-appointed independent director of Trump Plaza Funding, Inc.

Mr. Lampen received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Juris Doctorate from Columbia Law School.

Scott J. Durkin serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of our subsidiary, Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC. Mr. Durkin’s expertise in Douglas Elliman’s markets spans the past three decades. He has served as President of Douglas Elliman since December 2017 and was named Chief Executive Officer of Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC in August 2021, after serving as Chief Operating Officer since October 2016. He served as Executive Vice President of Douglas Elliman from January 2016 to October 2016. Prior to 2016, Mr. Durkin enjoyed a 26-year tenure at The Corcoran Group.

Mr. Durkin has helped oversee Douglas Elliman’s expansion efforts in New York, Florida, California, Massachusetts and Texas, as well as restructured operations in Westchester, Connecticut and the Hamptons. He has also led the development of a more streamlined and strategic operations team, bringing together top-tier talent across a range of disciplines including public relations, marketing and technology. Mr. Durkin is responsible for a host of brokerage initiatives such as its most recent brand campaign, The Next Move is Yours, and the development and implementation of its agent portal, MyDouglas.

While with The Corcoran Group, Mr. Durkin was highly involved in several key milestones, from selling the business to NRT/Realogy to acquiring subsequent brokerages in New York and Florida, solidifying his reputation as a formidable leader in the real estate industry.

Mr. Durkin is a member of the board of directors of God’s Love We Deliver, for which Douglas Elliman agents and staff have been instrumental in helping to raise over $1 million for clients of the organization too sick to shop or cook for themselves.

He is also an avid equestrian and a regular amateur competitor in the world of dressage. Active in the United States Dressage Federation and the United States Equestrian Federation, Mr. Durkin is a board member of the Have a Heart Animal Welfare Fund.

J. Bryant Kirkland III serves as our Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Douglas Elliman Inc. He has been Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Vector Group since April 2006 and Senior Vice President of Vector Group Ltd. since May 2016. He joined Vector Group and its subsidiaries in July 1992 and became Chief Financial Officer in 2006. Mr. Kirkland also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Multi Solutions II, Inc. and Multi-Soft II, Inc., which are engaged in organizational efforts, including obtaining initial financing, and preparing to identify potential merger or acquisition candidates.

Mr. Kirkland received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Barry University. He is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Florida, New York and North Carolina. Mr. Kirkland is also licensed as a Real Estate Broker in Florida.

He served as a member of the Board of Visitors at North Carolina State University from 2002 to 2006. Mr. Kirkland is an avid runner who has completed the Boston, New York, Miami, San Diego, Chicago and Arizona Marathons.

Marc N. Bell serves as our Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel. He has served as Secretary and General Counsel of Vector Group since May 1994 and as Senior Vice President since May 2016. Mr. Bell served as a Vice President of Vector from January 1998 to April 2016. From November 1994 to December 2005, Mr. Bell served as Associate General Counsel and Secretary of New Valley and from February 1998 to December 2005, as a Vice President of New Valley. Mr. Bell previously served as Liggett’s General Counsel and currently serves as an officer, director or manager for many of Vector’s or New Valley’s subsidiaries.

Mr. Bell received a Bachelor of Business Administration from George Washington University and a Juris Doctorate from Villanova Law School. Mr. Bell also received an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Bell is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Florida.

David Ballard serves as our Senior Vice President, Enterprise Efficiency and Chief Technology Officer. He has served as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Efficiency and Chief Technology Officer of Vector Group Ltd. since July 2020 and, from February 2020 to July 2020, served as a consultant to the Company.

Prior to joining Vector Group, Mr. Ballard served as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Services of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. from April 2019 to February 2020. Prior to joining Ladenburg, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Docupace Technologies, a leading digital operations technology provider in the wealth management space from March 2018 to April 2019. Mr. Ballard was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Cetera Financial Group from April 2015 to March 2018. Prior to his role at Cetera, Mr. Ballard spent more than two decades working in executive and management positions at several firms in the independent financial advisory and asset management industries, including AIG Advisor Group, SunAmerica Mutual Funds and AIG Retirement Services.

Daniel A. Sachar serves as Vice President Innovation and Managing Director of New Valley Ventures. He joined Vector Group in September 2020 as Vice President Innovation after serving as Vice President of Enterprise Innovation at Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. from January 2018 to February 2020, after serving as a full-time consultant to Ladenburg Thalmann since October 2015. Mr. Sachar led Ladenburg’s innovation platform, created a new division called the “Innovation Lab” and launched an industry-leading initiative to modernize and grow the nationwide network of independent financial advisors, until February 2020.

Prior to joining Ladenburg, he spent seven years in management consulting at a New York-based firm focused on innovation and growth, helping publicly traded companies launch new businesses. Mr. Sachar received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Stephen T. Larkin serves as our Vice President of Communications. With nearly two decades of experience in the real estate industry, Mr. Larkin is known as a trusted media source for trends in luxury living and market information and analysis. He has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of Douglas Elliman since September 2020, after serving as Vice President of Public Relations from December 2016 to September 2020.

Prior to beginning his tenure at Douglas Elliman, Mr. Larkin served as a Director of Relevance International, an international public relations firm, from February 2015 to December 2016. Mr. Larkin previously served as a principal of Larkin Public Relations from October 2005 to February 2013 and a Vice President of The Corcoran Group from August 2003 to October 2005.

Mr. Larkin graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and received a Master of Science from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Lisa Seligman serves as our Senior Vice President of Human Resources, leading Douglas Elliman’s efforts in talent recruitment and development, performance management, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Prior to joining Douglas Elliman in January 2023, Ms. Seligman served as Global Vice President of Human Resources at Arcade Beauty, the global leader in sampling innovation, retail solutions and digital brand activations. Ms. Seligman is a trusted business partner and strategic leader with nearly 25 years of human resources experience within the luxury industry, including Chanel, Shiseido Cosmetics America, Tiffany & Co and L’Occitane En Provence.

Ms. Seligman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications, with an emphasis on Human Resources, from University of Hartford.

Deborah A. Fasanelli serves as our Vice President of Finance. Ms. Fasanelli’s team is accountable for all financial reporting matters at Douglas Elliman. Prior to joining Vector Group as Controller in July 2006, Ms. Fasanelli was the Manager of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance with Tupperware Corporation where she led the implementation of Tupperware’s initial compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. She joined Tupperware in September 1998 as Manager of Internal Audit and oversaw internal audits of Tupperware’s sales offices, manufacturing plants and corporate audits in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. She began her career as an auditor with Coopers & Lybrand.

In addition to her roles at Vector Group and Douglas Elliman, Ms. Fasanelli also serves as the Secretary, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Vector's subsidiaries, Multi Soft II, Inc. and Multi Solutions II, Inc., which are engaged in organizational efforts, including obtaining initial financing, and preparing to identify potential merger or acquisition candidates.

Ms. Fasanelli is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Florida. Ms. Fasanelli holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Florida and a Masters of Accounting from Florida International University.

Fred Schmid serves as our Vice President and Controller. He is responsible for Douglas Elliman’s financial and income tax reporting. Prior to joining Vector Group in 2008, Mr. Schmid served in both the tax and audit departments of Deloitte & Touche LLP, where his clients included a diverse group of publicly-traded and privately-owned companies. Mr. Schmid’s work at Deloitte focused on clients in the real estate, manufacturing and hospitality industries.

Mr. Schmid received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Master of Accounting degree with a concentration in Taxation from the University of Florida. He is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Florida.