Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Image
- Three cofounders of the brokerage firm Official are leaving after scandal engulfed the firm.
- Official was tarnished by recent rape accusations against its star brokers Tal and Oren Alexander.
- The exits follow unfruitful negotiations with the Alexander brothers to dissociate from the firm.
When it launched in 2022, Official Partners charted an ascendant path in the crowded real-estate sales industry with smart branding and a focus on the uppermost tier of the residential market.
At the center were cofounders Tal and Oren Alexander, sibling dealmakers who were known for selling some of the country's most exclusive and expensive homes.
But accusations of rape against the brothers in recent months have resulted in an existential crisis for the company.
Now, the three other cofounders of Official, including its chief growth officer Nicole Oge, say they have abandoned efforts to try to salvage the firm. They are forfeiting their ownership and plan to depart from the company later this week.
"In order to best support an orderly and thoughtful transition of the business, we submitted notice of our resignations and the voluntary withdrawal of our ownership in Official, effective August 15, 2024," the three said in a joint statement provided to Business Insider. "The three of us are proud of the inspiration and vision for this company, and the successes achieved together with this incomparable team."
The exits of Oge, Richard Jordan, Official's CEO, and Andrew Wachtfogel, the president of its new development division, will leave ownership of Official solely in the hands of the Alexander brothers, the three said. Their planned departure follows weeks of unfruitful negotiations with Tal and Oren to remove the brothers from the business by having them relinquish their ownership stakes in it, Oge said.
"Richard, Andrew, and myself were very keen to find a solution that would prevent the situation that we are in today," Oge said.
The accusations against the men – along with a report in The New York Times that exposed further claims against them – have demolished their reputations in the residential real estate industry. They have also inflicted heavy collateral damage on Official, which has lost business and brokers as a result.
The departure of the three other owners could initiate a further exodus of the firm's roughly 72 sales agents.
The scandal began in June when two civil lawsuits that had been filed earlier this year came to light. In those cases, two women separately accused Oren and another brother, Alon Alexander, of rape. Shortly after, a third lawsuit filed by another woman claimed that Tal and Alon raped her while Oren watched. Then last month, a fourth woman came forward, filing a suit that accused Oren of raping her.
The three men have denied the claims. An attorney for Tal Alexander has sought to dismiss the case against him. The brothers have not yet filed answers to the claims in the other cases, according to court records.
In the immediate aftermath of the accusations, the brothers announced they would take a leave from Official. Behind the scenes, however, a wrestling match for power ensued, Oge said. The brothers, she said, initially agreed to abandon their ownership in the company, then later reneged.
"On June 25th, during a call with the partners, the Alexanders agreed to withdraw from the company and the paperwork was shared with them to sign," Oge said.
James Cinque, an attorney representing Tal and Oren, disputed Oge's description of events.
"No, they never said they were going to leave," Cinque said. "They just said, 'we need time to deal with our other issues.'"
He added: "They want to continue with the business."
Oge said the brothers also sought to cut off another avenue of potential survival for the firm: reforming under a different corporate entity and transferring over Official's brokers and employees while excluding the Alexanders.
"As recently as last week, we were reminded by the Alexanders' attorneys in writing that any solicitation of employees or agents would be contested," Oge said.
Cinque contradicted that as well.
"Anyone who wanted to join Nicole was free to go," Cinque said.
Oge said the three cofounders had timed their exit to allow them a period to arrange severance for the roughly dozen non-sales and administrative employees, in case they chose to leave as a result of the split.
In a written statement, the brothers suggested that they plan to try to continue operating the company.
"Some of the cofounders are leaving to pursue different opportunities," the brothers stated. "In the meanwhile Official Partners wishes them the best of luck and is pleased to advise that it shall continue to offer and provide the finest quality services in the industry."
The company faces daunting business prospects. It has lost lucrative assignments to sell units in a planned ultra-luxury condo development at The Raleigh, a hotel in Miami Beach, and a Dolce & Gabbana branded apartment project rising nearby.
Last month, Tyrone McKillen, the firm's top sales agent in Los Angeles, left with his brokerage team because of the stain of being affiliated with the Alexanders.
There are also logistical matters.
Official has used the brokerage services company Side to provide it with back office support and to hold its brokers' licenses.
A spokeswoman for Side declined to specify whether the company will continue to do business with Official now that it will be exclusively controlled by the Alexanders, but said in a statement: "Side would never have entered into a partnership with the Alexander brothers had Side known of the serious accusations against them."