This article has been revised from the original version.
Beverly Hills-based brokerage Hilton & Hyland, which has dominated the premium residential real estate market since its founding nearly 30 years ago, has recently lost some high-profile talent.
Linda May, Marc Noah, Susan Smith, Bjorn Farrugia and Jonah Wilson are among the agents who have departed Hilton & Hyland in recent months. The agency also lost its general manager Billy Jack Carter, who had been with Hilton & Hyland for eight years.
And then there is Drew Fenton, previously one of Hilton & Hyland’s top producers and No. 6 on the Business Journal’s list of top residential agents in L.A. based on 2021 sales volume.
He left the brokerage to create Carolwood, a new Beverly Hills-based boutique firm with Nick Segal and Ed Leyson. Leyson serves as Carolwood’s chief marketing officer. He previously directed Hilton & Hyland’s marketing division for more than 18 years.
Noah Weinberg, manager of content and communications at Hilton & Hyland, said the exodus of agents is not unusual.
“This isn’t first time that we’ve had high-profile agents leave,” Weinberg said, pointing to departures in recent years such as Mauricio Umansky, who went on to form the Agency; Josh and Matthew Altman of the Altman Brothers; and Rayni Williams and Branden Williams of Beverly Hills Estates.
“At Hilton & Hyland, we foster individuality with our agents,” Weinberg said. “We try to provide avenues of success for them. The fact that we’re able to lift up and promote so many agents so that they can start these successful brokerages of their own shows you how successful Hilton & Hyland is.”
“What’s happening this year with this many agents leaving, it’s not uncommon,” Weinberg continued. “Over the years, it hasn’t dampened the status of Hilton & Hyland in the luxury real estate market.”
The recent departures may differ in that they come at a time when Hilton & Hyland is navigating the industry after the February loss of co-founder Jeff Hyland. In March, a few weeks after Hyland’s death, the Business Journal reported that Hilton & Hyland had 140 agents under its roof. Today, Hilton & Hyland employs approximately 80 agents.
Weinberg said the staff size is intentional, adding that Hilton & Hyland has cleaned house internally and downsized into a leaner machine.
“As we researched and vetted potential options for Hilton & Hyland, given the changing marketplace, we’ve decided to mold our business model and return to our boutique roots,” Weinberg said. Fenton, Segal and Leyson formed Carolwood — located in a 10,000-square-foot penthouse at 9440 Santa Monica Blvd. — without the help of outside investors.
Fenton, who has $6.5 billion in sales to date, felt the time was right to leave Hilton and Hyland and start his own boutique firm.
“After the passing of Jeff Hyland, it felt like a natural progression to put all that I had learned in my 15 years at Hilton & Hyland into my own firm,” Fenton said. “Now more than ever, it is imperative for our elite clientele to be well informed and well represented.”
His vision for Carolwood “is designed to facilitate top agents and ultimately facilitate their clients in the spirit of private banking and family offices.”
Having closed exorbitant deals such as the sale of the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills for $195 million and the Chartwell property in Bel-Air for $200 million, Fenton proved to be one of the industry’s most prolific dealmakers while at Hilton & Hyland.
“I had been with Hilton & Hyland for 15 years, many of them formative,” he said. “Over those years, I was able to sell several of the most important properties in the city — five over $100 million. I signed when I was 24 and had already sold over $150 million that year, so joining was a natural extension. I have great respect for Jeff (Hyland) and his encyclopedic knowledge.”
Hyland key
Fenton said that the late Hyland was a key reason Hilton & Hyland attracted and cultivated so many of L.A.’s top residential agents.
“Jeff Hyland loved to help and guide,” Fenton said. “He was patient and literally wrote the book on the high-end market. Agents that start in a highly productive office surrounded by top producers learn how to transact at that level. The support from there was excellent and helped propel many new agents into becoming bigger names.”
Leyson also has fond memories of his time at Hilton & Hyland.
“The past 18 years have provided me with invaluable experience, as I had the incredible opportunity to learn the business firsthand under the expert mentorship of Jeff Hyland,” Leyson said. “By providing the highest level of service to an elite clientele of agents and sellers, we achieved great things, broke records and built a true family environment. I hope to achieve the same with Carolwood.”
Segal, who did not work at Hilton & Hyland, launched real estate startups DBL Realtors in 2004 and Beverly Hills-based Partners Trust in 2009. He still has a stake in Avenue 8, a mobile-first residential real estate brokerage, where he began as managing director in September of last year.
Big deals
While Carolwood may be the latest brokerage founded by a Hilton & Hyland veteran, others have launched to much success, including The Agency and, more recently, The Beverly Hills Estates. The latter, founded by Williams and Romito Williams in 2020, is already performing well.
“In our first year we did over $1 billion in sales, and $1.5 billion last year,” Williams said. “We’re nearing the $2 billion mark this year.”
The Williamses began their professional collaboration prior to their marriage in 2006 at Nourmand and Associates as Williams & Romito. In 2010, they moved to Hilton & Hyland. The pair married in 2013 and changed their team name to Williams & Williams.
While at Hilton & Hyland, Williams and Romito Williams became two of the firm’s top agents, brokering several record-shattering deals. In 2017, they transacted the Cecil B. DeMille estate in Los Feliz to Angelina Jolie for $24.5 million. In 2018, they sold Peter Morton’s Malibu home in an off-market deal for $110 million.
“We could have our own TV show if we wanted,” Williams said. “We’ve been offered. Netflix has called us, ‘Million Dollar Listings’ has called us. But when you work with such high clientele and you do these big deals, they don’t want their business out there and they don’t want their realtors trying to be more famous than they are. So that’s why we’ve remained under the radar even though we sell the best properties in the city.”
The Williamses had no qualms about opening Beverly Hills Estates in April 2020 at the height of Covid. “I love tough markets,” Williams said. “We really built our brand and our reputation (during the Great Recession) when the market was really tough.”
Williams added that he wanted to set his own rules.
“(While still at Hilton & Hyland), I wanted to go into the office and they wouldn’t let anybody in the office (because of) Covid,” Williams said. “I was still out there showing properties, there were no cars on the streets but I was still closing deals when the market was completely dead. I just didn’t want to be told that we can’t go into the office, can’t do this or that.”
Prime markets for Williams & Williams include Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Los Feliz, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Calabasas, Encino, Hidden Hills and Montecito.
“We’re all over,” said Williams, who noted that they have achieved their success without outside help. “We’ve grown organically. We’ve taken no investors’ money. We put up all of our own money.”
Paying back
As for why they left Hilton & Hyland rather than stay at the respected brokerage, the couple said they can do more running their own office. One thing that sets the brokerage a part? In addition to being a brokerage their offices are also home to a private-members club with guest speakers appearing twice a month. Michael Meldman, chief executive of Discoveryland, architect Paul McClean, and interior designer Jamie Bush are among the industry names who have lectured at Beverly Hills Estates’ headquarters, which even has its own barista.
“We wanted to pay back to this amazing profession that has given us such a great life by really making it cool and inspirational and opening up our Rolodex that has taken us 16 years to cultivate,” said Romito Williams. “We wanted to pay homage to what the field really entails. We always say you come into this social club with an idea and you leave with five.”
The brokerage now has 60 agents and 15 support staff.
Meanwhile, at Hilton & Hyland, the firm is preparing for the next chapter in its story. Weinberg said Hilton & Hyland does not begrudge all of the competition that it has spawned.
“We really do wish them success,” Weinberg said. “We want them to succeed on their own and we hope they’re able to. We’re not into burning bridges, we want to build them.”
