Bill Rudin to Step Down as CEO With His Son and Daughter Taking Over
Samantha and Michael Rudin will take over as co-CEOs of Rudin Management Company with Neil Gupta stepping in as president.
By Abigail Nehring October 26, 2023 12:16 pm
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William Rudin has named his kids, Samantha Rudin Earls and Michael Rudin, as his successors at Rudin Management Company.
Samantha and Michael Rudin will take over as co-CEOs of the family company early next year with longtime Chief Investment Officer Neil Gupta becoming president, Bloomberg first reported. Current CEO Bill Rudin and president Eric Rudin will stay in the picture as co-chairmen, focusing on the firm’s long-term investment strategy.
The decision has been in the works for more than a decade, Bill Rudin said in a statement Thursday.
“Over that time, Samantha, Michael and Neil have demonstrated their ability to lead and chart a course for the company’s continued success,” Bill Rudin said. “Eric and I know the time is right for them to take the helm.”
As Rudin’s new co-CEOs, millennials Samantha and Michael Rudin will supervise some 600 employees and oversee its portfolio of 32 buildings comprising 14.7 million square feet of commercial and residential real estate. Samantha Rudin, who will become the company’s first female CEO, will steer the firm’s multifamily business, and Michael Rudin will focus on commercial properties, according to the company.
Both currently serve as executive vice presidents and have been working at the company for about 15 fifteen years. In that time, the company has finalized $3 billion in investments.
In his twilight years as chief executive, Bill Rudin also chaired the Real Estate Board of New York until 2020 and has been a stabilizing force for the family firm.
A year into the pandemic, Rudin embarked on a $415 million repositioning of 3 Times Square. Touro University has signed on for 309,743 square feet in the 30-story office tower — the former North American headquarters of Reuters news agency.
The company secured a $38 million refinance for 80 Pine Street in 2021, allowing it to renovate and modernize the 1960 office tower during the pandemic’s doldrums. Rudin put the 1.2-million-square-foot property up for sale this year.
In a deal between three New York titans, Rudin reached an agreement with Kenneth Griffin‘s Citadel and Vornado Realty Trust to pool 40 East 52nd Street, 39 East 51st Street and Vornado’s 350 Park Avenue with plans to build a 1.7-million-square-foot office tower.
Along with the Dursts, Tishmans and Resnicks, the Rudins are one of New York real estate’s royal families, with Lewis Rudin, Bill Rudin’s father, credited as a key figure in helping steer the city out of the fiscal crisis in the 1970s. More than two dozen members of the family currently have a stake in the company’s properties.
The change in leadership comes as the dynastic firm nears its centennial. Samuel Rudin — Samantha and Michael’s great-grandfather — formed Rudin Management Company in 1925 after completing the firm’s first residential development at 1400 Benson Street in the Bronx. It sold the historic property in 2020 for $11.25 million.
In a statement, Samantha noted it’s an “immense honor” to be the first female CEO of the family business. She said her aunt, Beth Rudin DeWoody, and cousin, Madeleine Rudin, were among the pioneering women who paved the path for her.
Gupta, for his part, will be the first person without the name Rudin to serve as president of the company. In his expanded role, he will be tasked with guiding Rudin’s investment and capital strategies.
“As we navigate our way through the current capital markets, we remain focused on perpetuating and enhancing Rudin’s sterling reputation,” Gupta said in a statement.
Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.
