When you’ve built a company from scratch, passing the torch isn’t easy. But it helps if your successor was there from the very beginning and understands both the strengths of the company and the needs for the future.
That’s the case at ONE Sotheby’s International Realty in Miami, where Daniel de la Vega recently stepped into the CEO role. In 2008, he joined his mother, Mayi de la Vega, in launching the Sotheby’s franchise. With Mayi as CEO and Daniel as president, the company expanded across Florida’s east coast, growing to 1,400 agents and nearly $10 billion per year in sales.
They did it by building a people-centered culture. “Our job is to serve the agents. It’s important to us that their dreams and their goals are heard and met,” he says. “If the agent does better, the business does better, and everybody wins.”
De la Vega ties the brokerage’s philosophy of “people first” directly to his family’s story.
“Our family came here from Cuba with nothing, literally nothing,” he said. “My grandparents worked three jobs. My mother worked two.” The family achieved success in the United States—and with the launch of ONE Sotheby’s Mayi became the first Cuban American woman to own a Sotheby’s franchise.
“Everybody deserves an opportunity,” he says. “We see our business as a business of opportunity. It’s our responsibility to help you get there.”
Melding Talent and Tech
De la Vega’s career has been building toward this moment. As a result, “it’s been a very smooth transition,” he says.
But while he’s quick to emphasize continuity, he’s equally clear that this next chapter will include strategic evolution. At the top of his list: recruiting talent.
“I want to make sure we continue to surround ourselves with really great people.”
That applies across the organization, from agents to internal teams, and reflects his belief that culture and performance are inseparable.
Technology is another major focus—specifically, how the brokerage leverages AI to enhance both agent productivity and client experience.
“I want to make sure we’re using the right tools and empowering both our agents and our employees to leverage AI to the fullest,” he says.
Where to Next?
Growth is also firmly on the agenda. De la Vega is planning expansion beyond Florida, alongside a deeper investment in ancillary services like title, insurance, mortgage and property management—areas he sees as a natural next step for the business.
The goal is to build a more integrated platform—one that supports clients and agents at every stage of the transaction and beyond.
Mayi De la Vega remains active as executive chair of One Sotheby’s, and Daniel says, “the business is going to evolve, as we evolve as individuals.”
They’re building on a vision that was designed to last—one centered on people, relationships and opportunity and layering in the next phase: scale, technology and expansion.
