Commerce Secretary Lutnik Divests From Newmark
The company is buying back his stock holdings for about $127 million.
Newmark Group has agreed to repurchase nearly 11 million shares of company Class A common stock owned by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who is also Newmark’s former executive chairman. The repurchase represents a full divesting of Newmark stock by Lutnick.
The purchase price is more than $127 million, based on $11.58 per share, the closing price on May 16. The sale was to comply with Lutnick’s U.S. government ethics agreement. He was sworn in as 41st Commerce Secretary in February.
Newmark is making the purchases under its existing stock repurchase authorization. The deal represents only a fraction of the authorization, which will have $244.9 million remaining.
Michael Rispoli, Newmark CFO, described the transaction in a statement as a “unique opportunity to efficiently acquire a substantial number of shares at what we believe was a favorable price.” The $11.58 price represents a drop of nearly 24 percent since six months ago, but an 8.6 percent increase compared with a year ago.
During the company’s most recent earnings call, in April, Rispoli said that he is “really comfortable buying back stock… And we’re pretty careful about how we manage our balance sheet and how we manage our capital.”
“We made some investments in the first quarter into continuing to grow the business, and you can see that in our cash flows,” Rispoli said. “And so we didn’t buy back any stock, but I think you’ll see us pivot to buying back stock as we move into the second quarter.”
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Lutnick has also agreed to transfer his Cantor Fitzgerald ownership to trusts for the benefit of his children, including Cantor Fitzgerald Executive Vice Chairman Kyle Lutnick, and Chairman & CEO Brandon Lutnick. Cantor Fitzgerald will continue to be Newmark’s largest and controlling shareholder.
Newmark earnings up, losses decrease
Newmark posted a nearly $8.8 million loss in the first quarter of 2025 on $665.5 million in revenue, which was up year-over-year from $546.5 million. The loss represents an improvement for that metric. In the first quarter of 2024, the company experienced a $16.3 million loss.
The company’s leasing fees were up 31 percent in the first quarter, driven by increased activity in New York City, Boston and a strong rebound in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to Newmark CEO Barry Goslin on the most recent earnings call. Newmark increased management and servicing revenues by over 10 percent, which reflected strong valuation and advisory growth.
“If there was a perceived significant decline in interest rates, people might slow up putting things on the market,” Goslin said during the call regarding the U.S. commercial real estate market.
“But we haven’t really seen that,” Goslin said. “If the Fed indicated they drop interest rates by 50 basis points, you might see a change in the market because people will expect cap rates to rise in light of a decline in interest rates. But not really… the uncertainty is annoying and concerning, but things are still trading.”
Newmark signed a 15-year lease renewal and expansion at 125 Park Ave. in Manhattan in March, growing its footprint at the building to 184,239 square feet.
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