Ryan Serhant is 39 years old and stands at a height of 6 feet 3 inches.
Like every other aspect of the business sector, the American real estate industry is a highly competitive one. It can only take someone who knows his/her onions to become a key player in the industry. One such person is Ryan Serhant, who ventured into real estate in his early 20s and has grown to become one of the biggest names in the industry.
Aside from being a real estate mogul, the American citizen is also an author, actor, and entrepreneur. Also a reality television star, Ryan is popularly known for starring in Bravo’s Emmy-nominated series, Million Dollar Listing New York, which began airing in 2012 and is considered as one of America’s top real estate shows.
The Texas-born realtor is also known as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of SERHANT, his luxury real estate brokerage and media firm. He has cashed in more than a billion dollars in real estate sales and is counted among the most successful agents in New York. Thanks to his successful career, Ryan has been featured in several business/real estate-related shows on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS. However, there are also other exciting things to know about him apart from his career.
12. Ryan Serhant Is 6 Feet 3 Inches Tall
In addition to being smart and good-looking with an athletic body build, the star real estate broker is also quite tall. Standing at 6 feet 3 inches, he is 2 inches taller than his Million Dollar Listing co-star Steve Gold, who is 6 feet 1 inch, but 2 inches shorter than Fredrik Eklund who is 6 feet 5 inches tall. He is also 0.5 feet (6 inches) taller than an average American man according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which revealed that the average age-adjusted height for American men who are aged 20 and above is 69.1 inches (175.4 centimeters). Complementing the reality star’s height is his slat and pepper hair and attractive blue eyes.
11. The Real Estate Mogul Is 39 Years Old
Ryan Serhant was born on the 2nd of July 1984 in Houston, Texas. When he turned 36 in 2020, his family made sure to make him feel very special. His wife and their then-one-year-old daughter, Zena, surprised him “with a play date and kissy faces” just as he woke up on his birthday morning. Excited by the show of love, the Million Dollar Listing New York agent shared pictures of the surprise with his fans on Twitter. The pictures showed Emilia and Zena (together with some very special friends – Zena’s toys) waking him up to kick off the special day. “36 is off to a great start,” Ryan tweeted.
It didn’t end there. After Ryan eventually got out of bed, he met another sweet surprise in the bathroom. His wife had written “Happy birthday Puff. I [heart] you” on the mirror with lipstick.
EMILIA AND ZENA SURPRISED ME WITH A PLAY DATE AND KISSY FACES FOR MY BIRTHDAY ????
Ryan was also celebrated by his driver, Yuriy, who gifted him a “bag of crushed up and shredded $100 bills.”
10. Ryan Was Born In Texas But Raised In Massachusetts
Although he was born in Houston, Texas, Ryan grew up in Topsfield, Massachusetts, on the North Shore of Massachusetts. He was raised by his parents, John and Ellen Serhans, alongside his siblings; Jack Serhand (brother) and Misty Reich (sister). According to the reality TV personality, his father, who once served as Vice Chairman of State Street Global Advisors, was the one who taught him to work hard at a very young age.
Ryan Serhant began his education at Pingree School where he studied from 1998 to 2002. As a result of his interest in theatre and arts, he also attended Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp located in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Continuing his formal education, he enrolled in Hamilton College in 2002 to study English literature and theater (double major) and later graduated with a BA in 2006. While in college, the real estate expert was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
9. He First Ventured Into Acting Before Real Estate
Following his graduation from the university, Ryan relocated to the city of New York to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional actor. He was cast as Evan Walsh in the CBS television soap opera, As the World Turns, and appeared in 19 episodes of the series from 2007 to 2008. He also featured in the short films The Editor (2007), Happy Birthday/I’m Dead (2008), Overheard in NYC (2008), and Withdrawal (2010), and played the role of Hedge Fund Dave in the 2015 comedy-drama film While We’re Young.
In 2015, Serhant played a small role in the NBC police procedural comedy-drama TV series, The Mysteries of Laura, appearing in the episode “The Mystery of the Deceased Documentarian.” The following year, he played Sal in an episode of the television series Inside Amy Schumer.
8. Serhant Initially Got Into Real Estate Just To Support Himself While He Pursued Acting
Ryan Serhant’s journey in the New York real estate world began in 2008. He initially got his real estate license in order to support himself while auditioning for roles instead of working as a bartender. He earned only $9,000 in his first year in the business and he made it by soliciting new real estate businesses, employing various creative ways such as distribution of flyers that proclaimed him New York City’s #1 broker and also by speaking to shoppers who appear to be well-endowed (judging by their purchases) on the streets of New York.
Later in 2008, Ryan launched his career in real estate. He landed a job at one of the largest real estate brokerage companies in New York – Nest Seekers International and eventually rose to the positions of executive vice president and managing director. While still working at Nest Seekers, he established The Serhant Team, which is his brokerage team that is made up of people from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the US, including more than 60 people in the Hamptons, New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and New Jersey.
The team, which was launched in 2012, focuses on upscale residential condos and cooperative sales, sales of homes, as well as new development sales. The Serhant Team has closed several deals by implementing creative strategies such as employing the services of a marching band to display the effectiveness of an apartment’s double-pane windows. Also in 2012, Ryan, having carved a niche for himself in real estate brokerage in such a short time, took the 15th spot on The Real Deal magazine’s list of 100 most successful agents in New York.
7. He Has Established His Own Real Estate Firm
On September 15, 2020, Ryan Serhant announced on his Instagram that he was starting his own real estate brokerage firm named SERHANT. Breaking the news, the Million Dollar Listing New York agent revealed that he had been waiting a long time for this day. In preparation for the launch of his company, Ryan recorded promo videos and got a social media campaign ready with the intention of releasing them as soon as an article about his new firm in The Wall Street Journal was published.
Surprisingly, the article was posted earlier than Ryan anticipated, leaving him shocked but ecstatic. According to him, as reported by Daily Mail, he was also nervous due to the fact that he was yet to tell any of his existing clients about his new company. He had also not told many of his teammates about it but that is history now. As soon as the article was published on September 15, 2020, Ryan instructed his team to post the video of his launch in which he is seen wearing blue tights as the superhero who is set to save New York.
This marked the transition of his team from being the #1 ranked sales team in New York City to becoming a full-service firm. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Ryan said that the reason he started his own firm was that he believed “the traditional real-estate brokerage model is broken.” He also added that unlike 10 and 20 years ago, the brokerage company, pretty photos, and open houses no longer sell homes today.
Following the news of his new brokerage company, rumors began to make the rounds that Ryan Serhant was leaving Nest Seekers International, but he dispelled the rumors in an interview with The Real Deal. According to him, he and his team will continue working with clients on existing projects at Nest Seekers. However, he explained that going forward, every new business he brings will be handled by SERHANT.
6. Ryan Serhant Took His Career A Step Further By Venturing Into Reality Television
Ryan Serhant took a step towards becoming the popular reality TV star he is today in 2010 by auditioning to be a part of the Million Dollar Listing New York (MDLNY). He succeeded of course. The show premiered on Bravo on March 7, 2012, and currently stars Ryan and three other agents named Fredrik Eklund, Steve Gold, and Kirsten Jordan. A spin-off of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, the reality TV series centers on the lives of the luxury real estate agents as they represent owners of properties in New York, helping them seal some exclusive real estate deals.
Thanks to the massive reception the reality show has enjoyed, it has been nominated twice for the Emmy Awards. Its latest season (season 9) ran from May 6, 2021, to August 26, 2021, alongside Million Dollar Listing: Ryan’s Renovation, a limited spin-off series that stars Ryan Serhant and focuses on him and his family as they demolish their newly bought 7,900-square-foot townhouse in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, New York, to build their dream home.
Meanwhile, before Ryan’s Renovation, Serhant also co-executive produced and launched a spin-off of MDLNY called Sell It Like Serhant in 2017. On the show, he coaches salespeople across multiple industries whose performances are below par, helping them improve the skills they need to become better salespeople. The last episode of the series was aired on Bravo on June 5, 2018.
Ryan became very popular on account of the Million Dollar Listing New York TV series and he spoke to the Hedonist Magazine about how famous the show made him, and how it afforded him the opportunity of living his two passions – acting and real estate. According to the actor, he invested a lot of his time doing theatre and taking acting classes while evolving into different characters. “When you study acting you are not just memorizing lines,” he explained. Today you become one thing and the next, you become another, Ryan continued. It teaches one to listen and to be very open, and in real estate, he said, one has to have the ability to connect with oneself and also with others.
Putting this lesson to use in his real estate business, Ryan said he becomes whoever he needs to be in order to sell his product. And it has obviously worked for him, judging by where he is now. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. The Million Dollar Listing New York told Hedonist that for the first three years he joined the real estate business, he never took a single day off for holidays or weekends. “It sucked the worst,” he said, “but I think that for entrepreneurship and especially real estate agents where it’s all commission-based, you have to put in the time now that others won’t, so later on you can live the life that others can’t.”
5. He Is A Published Author
Serhant released his first book titled Sell It Like Serhant: How to Sell More, Earn More, and Become the Ultimate Sales Machine on the 18th of September 2018, the same week he marked his tenth year in real estate. The book turned out to become a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times bestseller.
On February 2, 2021, the realtor published another book called Big Money Energy: How to Rule at Work, Dominate at Life, and Make Millions, in which he told the story of how he transitioned from being broke to being a very successful broker in only three years. He also dishes out his best advice for anyone who would like to tow the same path he did.
4. The TV Star Is Married To Emilia Bechrakis
Yes, Ryan is a married man. He is married to a very beautiful lady named Emilia Bechrakis. The latter had visited New York and in the course of her visit, she attended a Greek-Jewish party just shortly before she was to return to Europe. Speaking of their first meeting in an interview, Emilia said she met her now-husband at a Hannukah party that took place in a listing of a Greek Jewish developer on the upper east side of New York. She attended the event because she knew the developer and Ryan came to see him. On seeing Ryan, Emilia revealed, she nearly fell off her chair as she instantly fell in love with him.
Thankfully, the feeling was mutual and as a result, the duo connected without wasting time. However, Emilia had some reservations about Ryan, think that he was either gay, married, or at least in a relationship. Nevertheless, Ryan, knowing that she was what he wanted, refused to give up. He continued calling Emilia, an act which she saw as odd, but eventually, his tenacity yielded the result he wanted.
About four years after they began dating, precisely on September 14, 2014, Ryan proposed to Emilia in a very memorable way. With the help of the Mayor and 50 officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers, he sealed off Times Square for one hour just to ask Emilia to marry him. Subsequently, Ryan converted to the Greek Orthodox Church and following that, he and Emilia tied the knot in a Greek church in a ceremony that took place in in Corfu, Greece, on July 7, 2016. The event was chronicled in a mini-series titled Million Dollar Listing New York: Ryan’s Wedding, which was broadcast on Bravo in the fall of 2016.
3. Ryan’s Wife Is A Trained Lawyer With 3 Law Degrees
Emilia Bechrakis has both American and Greek roots. Born in New York on the 3rd of July 1985, Emilia has lived in different countries of the world. She grew up, to a point, in a small village in Greece known as Mani and also spent a part of her life as a child growing up in Athens and Pennsylvania together with her brother and sister.
At the age of 18, Emilia left her home in Greece to acquire a college education in London. She eventually bagged three degrees in law, according to her profile on the New York State Unified Court System website. Her account on LinkedIn also revealed that she earned a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree from the University of Kent where she studied from 2003 to 2006. Afterward, she enrolled in the University College London in 2007 and eventually bagged a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in Maritime Law in 2008. Two years later, she concluded a legal practice program at the BPP Law School.
Emilia kicked off her career as a legal practitioner in maritime law, working as an attorney for the Norton Rose & Fulbright law firm. She later got another job as General Counsel and Director of Legal Affairs for the Mediterranean Shipping Company according to a press release about her job switch. While working for the shipping company, she was offered a job at the firm’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, but because she wanted to pursue a future with her now-husband, Ryan Serhand, she turned it down.
2. Ryan Serhant’s Wife Switched Careers From Law To Real Estate
Emilia Bechrakis got licensed to practice law in New York in September 2016 after she was sworn in to the New York bar. The license she currently holds will be due for renewal in July 2022. Her swearing in came six years after she earned her third degree in law in the United Kingdom and at the time, she jokingly disclosed that her next line of action would be venturing into real estate.
Rather than carry on in her legal profession, the 38-year-old left it and joined her husband in the real estate business, though in a different realm. She told Bravo in early 2020 that she quit practicing maritime law some years ago and got into the title insurance business. According to her, a lot of people do not know about title insurance, and one day, she might do a video to explain what it is. However, “it’s real estate-related,” she added.
In May 2015, the former attorney started working as a senior sales representative at Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company. She remained there for the next four years and nine months before moving over to Kensington Vanguard National Land Services, LLC in January 2020, where she still works to date in the position of vice president of business development. Speaking about her hiring in a press release, Emilia Bechrakis said the reason she moved to Kensington Vanguard at this point in her career was that she was looking for an exciting new opportunity where she would be able to expand her business and give her clients the best customer service experience possible.
Even though she now works in real estate, Emilia did not shelve her law degrees. As she told Bravo, she uses her skills as a lawyer to do pro bono work for legal aid. And right now, her focus is on the Innocence Project, which has a mission to absolve people who are convicted wrongly and reform the current criminal justice system to ensure that similar injustices are prevented from occurring in the future. “So that’s how I use my legal brain that I think the baby has dwindled a little bit. I’m reviving it slowly, but it’s getting there,” she joked.
1. Emilia and Ryan Serhant Had A Hard Time Conceiving Their Daughter
The Serhant’s marriage has produced a beautiful daughter named Zena, who was born in February 2019. But the journey to having her was far from a smooth ride. After Ryan and Emilia made their union official, they decided to start having kids, but for some reason, it was difficult. Having tried for two years without a result, they had to resort to IVF, and all through the journey, the couple remained open about it with Emilia giving fans a closer look at what the experience was like on her YouTube page.
Although she confessed to being a very private person, Emilia said she wanted to share her experience with other women who are going through the same struggles with conception. She even took it a step further by documenting her journey to have a child in a picture book titled To The Moon and Back For You, which was published in March 2020.
