As often as they’re on the move, New York’s power players still consider their desks a professional home base. Our weekly “What’s on My Desk” feature takes a look inside the offices of the city’s most successful businessmen and women.
In his eight years with real estate giant Douglas Elliman, managing director Fredrik Eklund has brought in $1.25 billion in sales and led celebrities including Cameron Diaz, John Legend and Daniel Craig to new, not-so-humble Manhattan abodes. The Swedish native has achieved his own fame, and a touch of notoriety, with his own film and television career, which recently included a stint on Million Dollar Listing New York, Bravo’s reality TV take on the cutthroat world of high-end real estate. When not selling prime properties in some of New York’s most sought after buildings (or yukking it up on Twitter @fredrikeklundny), this is the desk where Eklund conducts his work.
- As you can see I like press, and I keep some of the best press coverage close to me. The front page of the New York Times Sunday Style section and the cover of the Real Estate section are my favorites. Yes, of course it has to do with ego, but my job is also to get as many wealthy buyers to view my listings online as possible, and P.R. is much more effective than advertising.
- I have two miniature dachshunds, Mousey and Fritzy. They are my children and I miss them all day when I’m in the office, so a friend of mine gave me these metal dogs for my desk. Sometimes I kiss the metal sculptures on their noses and make my co-workers laugh.
- I shake a lot of hands and use a lot of hand sanitizer. My assistant buys it in bulk at Target.
- It’s important to have nice hands and nails as a guy, so I keep a nail file on my desk.
- I’m super organized in work, but I have a very messy desk. I know, I know, I know… And I chose this corner desk because it gives me room underneath – I high-kick every time I do a deal and that is in average once a day.
