Savills Appoints New North American CEO

Savills North America is changing up its leadership team with a new CEO next year.

David Lipson, currently president of North America for the brokerage, is succeeding Mitchell Rudin beginning Jan. 1., the company announced Monday. Rudin will continue with the company as the chairman for North America.

Lipson joined Savills in 1987 as an intern before becoming a full-time employee in 1989. He led the Washington, D.C., office for a decade prior to becoming North American president in 2021. 

While president, he expanded Savills' service lines, in part with the acquisitions of startups. In 2021, Savills acquired T3 Advisors to bolster its life sciences offerings. A year prior, the company acquired advisory firm Macro Consultants to strengthen its property management platform.

When he takes over as CEO, Lipson plans to grow Savills North America by further broadening its services and diversifying its portfolio. 

"We’ve been historically an office-focused company. We've been significantly growing our industrial offering," he told the Washington Business Journal. "We have been growing our portfolio offering [and] global occupier services. We’ve been growing our project management offering as well."

Lipson told the WBJ that Savills is eyeing expanding its presence in markets such as Northern California, Florida, Texas and Canada, saying they offer significant opportunity.

Rudin has been CEO of Savills' North American arm since July 2020 after serving as its president since 2018. He was appointed to the position when previous CEO Mitchell Steir stepped down after 18 years, citing the onset of the pandemic as a factor.

Rudin will continue to serve on the executive board along with Lipson, who joined in 2014. 

The London-based brokerage was founded 166 years ago and has grown to more than 40 offices across the U.S.