2023's Most Pioneering Real Estate CEO

Yael Geffen, CEO of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty, talks to GQ about her real estate journey and suceeding in a male-dominated industry

GQ: What initially attracted you to the real estate industry, and what made you decide to pursue it as a career?

Yael Geffen: I never actually wanted to join the family business and fought it for a long time! My late grandmother, Aida Geffen, was the doyen of the property industry in South Africa and my parents, Lew and Sandy Geffen, followed in her footsteps to open Lew Geffen Estates in 1982, which became Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty.

Although I was expected to follow in their footsteps, I wanted to experience more before settling down. After graduation, I decided to travel abroad, intending to stay for only a few months. However, my short hiatus became a six-year sojourn, during which I lived and worked in New York City and Los Angeles.

When I returned to join the family business, it was with considerable global experience garnered in high-powered US advertising and marketing firms. However, I was still expected to start at the bottom as an apprentice, where I was groomed under the guidance of my father and my late brother, Barak.