Dottie Herman is the quintessential New York success story. After attending Adelphi University, Dottie began her real estate career in 1978 working for the national real estate division of Merrill Lynch on Long Island, New York. In 1989, Merrill Lynch sold their real estate division to Prudential, who did not want to own a national real estate company and decided to franchise. With the change in ownership, Dottie was convinced she could run the company herself, so in 1990 she borrowed $7 million dollars (with no money down and no personal guarantees) from Prudential to purchase Prudential Long Island Realty. She then turned the company into a powerhouse brokerage on Long Island and then in the Hamptons. Ready to conquer the Manhattan market, in 2003, Dottie and her business partner, Howard Lorber, purchased Douglas Elliman, Manhattan's largest and most prestigious brokerage firm. Since then, Douglas Elliman has become the largest and fastest-growing real estate residential brokerage in New York and Dottie has become the most successful woman in real estate.
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