Real estate mogul Ryan Serhant is making waves in California—not just for expanding his brokerage into the Golden State, but for poaching one of its most recognizable agents in the process, fellow Netflix star Ben Belack.
The 41-year-od Serhant founder today announced his launch in California, revealing that he will open up business with 16 founding agents, including Belack, a top-producing broker and star of “Buying Beverly Hills,” who will join the company as its Executive Vice President of California.
Belack, whose team has been with Mauricio Umansky‘s The Agency for the last seven years, brings with him more than $1 billion in career sales and a high-profile presence in Los Angeles’ luxury market—as well as an estimated $65 million worth of listings.
But he also comes armed with a great deal of ambition—which he says aligns perfectly with Serhant’s unique way of doing business.
“I was excited, because I feel very similar to him in a lot of ways, in terms of the way with which I have grown my own business, as well as the things that I know that we both value, in terms of our branding, and also being teachers,” he told Realtor.com®.
Still, leaving his previous brokerage after more than a decade wasn’t easy.
“The truth is, the market has competed for me for a long time, and I’ve really just been [closing] business,” he said, noting his 12-year tenure and experience filming two seasons of Netflix’s “Buying Beverly Hills,” which followed The Agency’s inner workings.
“It was hard to even imagine being anywhere else, and I wouldn’t say that I was unhappy,” he added.
But ultimately, the decision came down to growth—and leadership opportunities that weren’t being presented to him elsewhere.
“I wanted to have a leadership role. I didn’t want to just be another agent somewhere,” he said.
In his new role, Belack will play a key part in building out Serhant’s presence across the state, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County, Beverly Hills, and Lake Tahoe, as per a press release shared with Realtor.com.
“I’m not just a founding agent there. I’m their Executive Vice President of California,” he said. “I’m gonna help them build out San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County, Beverly Hills and Lake Tahoe.”
The opportunity to help shape the brand in a major market proved to be a turning point.
“I wanted to be the Ryan of the West Coast,” he said, pointing to a shared focus on media, branding, and attention-driven marketing.
“And I think that comes naturally, because we both love doing what we can to utilize the media to fetch attention and maintain it at scale,” he added.
That alignment extended beyond branding into how both approach the business of real estate itself—and how they tackle listings in new and original ways.
“Sellers in the modern market are always asking, what are you gonna do for me aside from putting it on the MLS?” he said.
Belack said Serhant’s tech-forward model—including its built-in studio, AI-driven CRM, and training platform—made the decision clearer.
“In a world where agents need to be making content to have their brand not just recognized, but remembered… listings with video get like 500% more inquiries,” he said.
“The stuff that they’re doing, I was kind of already doing on my own,” he added, calling the alignment “easy to see.”
The move also reflects Belack’s long-standing interest in leadership, after years of mentoring agents and building his own team.
“At a certain point, when you have ambitions to lead and grow… you’re maybe infringing on the leaders that are already there,” he said.
“And so when they pitched the leadership stuff and the growth stuff, that became extremely, extremely compelling.”
Belack is bringing his entire team with him—seven agents and two staff members—along with tens of millions in active listings.
“My whole team is coming over, we’re probably bringing over around $65 million in listings,” he said.
While the move marks a major professional shift, Belack’s rise in real estate has been anything but conventional.
“I wish it was exciting,” he said of his early career. “I was working in hospitality… my final job was at Spago in Beverly Hills, where I was a sommelier, but it was a very difficult life.”
After struggling to break through as an actor, he pivoted to real estate—starting with little knowledge of the industry.
“I remember the first day I went into a brokerage, they might as well have been speaking a different language,” he said.
More than a decade later, the trajectory still surprises him.
“I never, ever imagined that this would be my path and trajectory,” he said.
Now, as he helps lead Serhant.’s California expansion, Belack is focused on building a brand that resonates beyond just transactions.
“Despite what you may hear, people are still either moving to California or dreaming about living in California,” he said.
“It is a wonderful, wonderful landscape of mountains and oceans, and if you want to ski and surf on the same day, you can.”
And for Belack, success in this next chapter is about more than just deals—it’s about building something lasting.
“Ultimately, success to me looks like the Serhant name is moving towards the same household awareness as it does on the East Coast, but here on the West Coast,” he said.
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