Fredrik Eklund
Fredrik Eklund (born April 26, 1977) is a Swedish New York City-based real estate broker, a Bravo TV reality star, a former IT entrepreneur in his native Sweden, and the author of The Sell.[1][2]
Fredrik Eklund | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | Stockholm School of Economics |
Occupation | Real Estate Salesperson, TV Personality |
Spouse(s) | Derek Kaplan ( m. 2013) |
Children | 2 |
Website | http://www.fredrikeklund.com/ |
Early life and education
Eklund is the brother of author Sigge Eklund and the son of Klas Eklund, who is a senior economist at Swedish bank SEB.[3] His paternal grandparents were Swedish-Danish-Irish-Russian actors Bengt Eklund and Fylgia Zadig.[4][5]
Eklund had his first American experience as a foreign exchange student in Edina, Minnesota, where he attended Edina High School. After finishing high school, Eklund studied at the Stockholm School of Economics, but never graduated.[6] He has worked for the financial newspaper Finanstidningen. At the age of 23, Eklund founded an Internet company with over 45 employees, and went on to work for the investment bank SEB in Stockholm, London, Singapore and Tokyo before beginning his work in New York City.[7]
Film career
In 2004, before arriving in New York City, Eklund acted in a number of pornographic films under the pseudonym Tag Eriksson (or Tag Ericsson).[8] In an interview with Out Magazine, Eklund has said of this period, "It was only a week of my life, accumulated. It was spread out over a few months, so it was a very short period of my life. It was something that I tried and quickly decided that I was done with." Eklund went on to say in the interview that he is proud of who he is, that he does not regret anything, and that his past involvement in the pornographic film industry has not negatively affected his career.[8]
Real estate career
Eklund has closed over five billion dollars in residential real estate.[9] Eklund became Managing Director at the New York City real estate firm CORE Group Marketing and in 2010, alongside his business partner John Gomes, Managing Director at Prudential Douglas Elliman, the largest real estate brokerage on the East Coast. Eklund also started the top-selling team at Elliman.[9]
Eklund is the founder of Eklund Stockholm New York,[10] Scandinavia's most high-end residential real estate brokerage with 50 employees and $1 billion in closed sales in 2014.[9] He is an active member of the Real Estate Board of New York.[7]
Million Dollar Listing New York
The New York Times featured Eklund on the front page of the "Sunday Style" section in November 2010.[3] He is one of five New York City brokers starring in Bravo's Million Dollar Listing New York.[11]
Personal life
On February 9, 2013, Eklund married artist Derek Kaplan on Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys.[12] The couple lived in New York with their dogs Mouse and Fritzy until 2016.[13] They have since moved to Roxbury, Connecticut, to live in a mansion Eklund purchased.[14] Eklund and Kaplan attempted to have children through surrogacy, but the surrogate suffered a miscarriage.[15]
In November 2017, Eklund and Kaplan had twins via surrogate: daughter Milla and son Fredrik Jr.[16]
References
- Svensk VD blir porrskådis i USA, Aftonbladet, February 2003, accessed May 2008 (in Swedish)
- Staff (ndg) "The Sell" Goodreads
- Widdicombe, Ben (2010-11-14). "From Pornography to Real Estate Mogul". New York Times. p. ST1. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
- En porrfilmstjärnas bekännelser, Svensk Bokhandel, October 2004, Fredrik Eklund, accessed May 2008, (in Swedish)
- Direktören blev porrskådis - ger ut bok om karriärbytet, Dagens Nyheter, June 2004, Bernt Hermele, accessed May 2008 (in Swedish)
- Archived July 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- "About Fredrik Eklund – The Eklund Gomes Team – Douglas Elliman Real Estate". Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- "Interview: Fredrik Eklund | Out Magazine". Out.com. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
- "Million Dollar Listing New York Cast Bios - Fredrik Eklund, Luis D. Ortiz and Ryan Serhant". Slice.ca. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
- "ESNY". www.esny.se. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
- "Fredrik Eklund - Bio | Bravo TV Official Site". Bravotv.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
- Nordyke, Kimberly (24 July 2013). "'Million Dollar Listing New York': Fredrik Eklund Previews Wedding Episode". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- "Fredrik Eklund". Bravo. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- "Fredrik Eklund's Dreamy Connecticut Mansion Is So Beautiful, It Made Him Cry". 21 April 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
- "Fredrik Eklund Shares Devastating News: "We've Had a Failed Pregnancy"". Bravo TV Official Site.
- "Million Dollar Listing New York's Fredrik Eklund Welcomes Daughter Milla and Son Fredrik". People Magazine.