Dolly Lenz, Rupert Murdoch's New York listing agent
Dolly Lenz has long been the real estate agent in New York City, but the crown became even brighter when she was appointed to sell Rupert Murdoch's redundant US$72 million (A$91.9 million) penthouse (pictured above).
By mid last year she had sold over US$8.5 billion (A$10.85 billion) in property over her years in the industry, including her record-setting sale of the US$57 million (A$72.75 million) triplex penthouse to the billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
Indeed Murdoch, who recently acquired the US realtor website, dubbed Lenz "a force of nature" while speaking at the Inman conference.
"My friend and personal agent, Dolly Lenz, she has put me into some very nice homes and I have written her some very nice cheques," Murdoch said.
Having bought through her, Murdoch returns the task to Lenz, who was born in the Bronx to a Spanish immigrant father and changed her name from Idaliz Camino.
Source: Lezno
According to Wikipedia: "She bought her first apartment at age 18 on Park Avenue in the Murray Hill neighborhood.
"She was an accountant at United Artists where she struck up a friendship with Barbra Streisand.
"She began selling real estate in various agencies including Sotheby's before moving to Prudential's Douglas Elliman agency in 1999.
"Lenz left Douglas Elliman to start her eponymous firm in June 2013.
"She has been used frequently by Donald Trump to sell property.
"In 2005 she sold the Burnt Point mansion in Wainscott, New York to billionaire Stewart Rahr for $45 million."
That was the year The Economist magazine described Lenz as the top real-estate agent in a city that is obsessed by real estate to the point of derangement.
With technology in the palm of her hand she spends more time in a car than in an office setting. She sleeps with her BlackBerry, especially as over half her clients are based in Asia.
She recently said many of the wealthy clients she deals with are no nonsense.
"The clients I deal with are extremely intelligent and savvy, and they negotiate mega-deals for a living," she told CNBC with six selling tips.
"But one of the main reasons they seek me out is I have something they don’t have, and that’s specific information.
"And it is my job to listen to their preconceived ideas and give them the good, the bad and the ugly of what they are telling me.
"I don’t tell them what I think they want to hear, I tell them what they need to hear."
Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco nicknamed her “Jaws” and when asked by Bill Griffeth, the CNBC anchor, whether she liked that name she responded: “I don’t know if I like it, but sometimes it’s necessary.”
"Your client is watching and evaluating your performance and couldn’t care less about your comfort zone," Lenz said.
"Get the job done, no excuses, and you will have a client for life.
"If you want to make it in the high-end pressure cooker that is New York real estate, that’s what it takes."