There’s a shakeup under way at luxury residential real estate brokerage Hilton & Hyland.
Lori Hyland, the widow of company co-founder Jeff Hyland, has purchased fellow founder Rick Hilton’s interest in the Beverly Hills-based company.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lori Hyland now owns 100% of the shares in the company. The company’s name will remain Hilton & Hyland.
“Beverly Hills is the only inlet city of the major luxury markets, yet people come from all over the globe to build legendary estates here and add to its extensive history,” Hyland said in a statement. “It is such an honor to be centered in this treasured community, and I am deeply excited for what’s ahead as Hilton & Hyland continues to serve it.” Hyland previously worked in fine art.
Hilton will still hold the title of co-founder in Hilton & Hyland.
“Rick (Hilton) will be greatly regarded as Hilton & Hyland’s co-founder who joined Jeff 30 years ago to create our masterpiece of an agency,” Hyland said in a statement. “Hilton & Hyland has a sterling reputation on the world stage and will continue to represent its unique and legendary estates.”
Rick Hilton is leaving Hilton & Hyland to launch his own brokerage with his son, Barron, under the name Hilton & Hilton.
“With Jeff’s passing, it seemed like a natural progression to move forward,” Hilton said in a statement.
Hilton & Hyland was founded in 1993 and has remained privately owned. It has one office in Beverly Hills and does not have other franchised offices, as some brokerages do.
Last year, the brokerage had 31% of the market share of homes priced above $20 million in L.A. and an annual sales volume of $4 billion.
The firm is the exclusive L.A. member, and a founding affiliate, of Forbes Global Properties.
“I entered the real estate business over 30 years ago. During those three decades, along with my partner, Jeff Hyland, we created and built ‘Hilton & Hyland,’” Hilton said in a statement. “Together, we turned our company into the finest boutique brokerage in the world.”
Shedding agents
Since Jeff Hyland’s passing in February, Hilton & Hyland has lost a number of agents. In March, the agency had around 140 agents; today it has about 80.
Some of the agents who have departed the agency recently include Drew Fenton, Linda May, Marc Noah, Susan Smith, Bjorn Farrugia and Jonah Wilson.
General Manager Billy Jack Carter also left recently.
Fenton, No. 6 on the Business Journal’s list of top residential agents in L.A. based on 2021 sales volume, formed Beverly Hills-based boutique brokerage Carolwood upon his departure with Nick Segal and Ed Leyson. Leyson directed Hilton & Hyland’s marketing division for more than 18 years.
“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 told the Business Journal in November.
And Leyson said he hoped with Carolwood to achieve what Hilton & Hyland had.
“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 in a November interview. “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.”
Big local brokerages including The Agency and The Beverly Hills Estates were also founded by Hilton & Hyland alums.
Staff Reporter Michael Aushenker contributed to this report.
