The story
Early years
Newmark was founded in 1929 in Manhattan by Dave Newmark. In 1953, Aaron Gural joined Newmark & Company as a real estate broker, later purchasing the company in 1956 with partners. Gural served as Chairman of Newmark & Company from 1957 to 1998.
Under Gural's leadership, Newmark began acquiring properties throughout Manhattan starting with 230 Fifth Avenue. Other notable property acquisitions during this time included the Film Center Building at 630 Ninth Avenue and the historic DuMont building at 515 Madison Avenue. Gural became known as one of the first real estate executives to see the potential for restoring West Side industrial sites and abandoned lofts in the Garment District.
In 1978, Aaron Gural's son, Jeffrey Gural, and Barry Gosin took ownership of the company. Throughout the late 1980s, in response to a lull in New York City's real estate market, Gosin began building Newmark’s brokerage and advisory division. Gosin would later tell The New York Times that it was Newmark's unique combination of being a brokerage firm and having a significant investment portfolio that set the firm apart in the industry.
In 1992, James Kuhn joined Newmark as President after serving as the owner/manager of the Mendik Company, where he oversaw the acquisition of 11 million square feet of office space and 6,000 apartments.
Throughout the 1990s, Newmark continued to expand its property holdings, including through the purchase of New York's Flatiron Building beginning in 1997. In the late 1990s, the firm grew beyond its basic leasing and management operation by expanding its corporate services division.
Since 2001
In 2001, Newmark invested in national appraiser Koeppel Tener Real Estate Services, founded by Alfred J. Koeppel. In 2006, Newmark formed a partnership with London-based real estate firm Knight Frank becoming Newmark Knight Frank. In October 2011, BGC Partners, Inc., an American global financial services company based in New York City, acquired Newmark. With the acquisition, Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BGC, became Chairman of Newmark, with Gosin, who had previously served on BGC's Board of Directors, remaining as Newmark's CEO and Jeff Gural as Chairman Emeritus.
In April 2012, BGC Partners acquired assets of commercial real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis, founded in 1958 by Donald Sr. & John Grubb & Harold Ellis, to form Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF). Newmark announced an expansion in South America in 2014 through partnerships in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru. According to Newmark, the firm currently operates in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Puerto Rico. On December 15, 2017, Newmark listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In October 2020, Newmark Knight Frank formally rebranded to Newmark.
On June 2, 2021, The Washington Post reported that The Trump Organization had hired Newmark to sell its lease to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. "A representative of Newmark Group declined to comment", the Post said.
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In February 2025, Barry Gosin assumed the additional role of Chairman of its operating company, Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc, following Howard Lutnick’s confirmation as 41st United States Secretary of Commerce. Stephen Merkel was named Newmark’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. Kyle Lutnick also joined as a member of the Board. In April 2025, Luis Alvarado assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer.
From Wikipedia’s article on Newmark Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8