Reflections from the 2026 Sotheby’s International Realty Global Networking Event in San Francisco

For fifty years, Sotheby’s International Realty has built something that extends far beyond luxury real estate. It has created a worldwide community of professionals connected by relationships, shared standards and a commitment to exceptional representation.

That was on full display in San Francisco at the 2026 Sotheby’s International Realty Global Networking Event (GNE), where approximately 2,700 real estate advisors from around the world gathered to celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary and, perhaps more importantly, look toward what comes next.

The scale of the gathering was impressive, but the real significance of GNE was found in the connections being made within it. Conversations between advisors from across the USA, London, Dubai, Portugal, Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Australia and dozens of other markets were not simply networking exercises. They were an investment in professional relationships that ultimately create opportunities for our clients.

Today, Sotheby’s International Realty encompasses more than 1,100 offices in 86 countries and territories, supported by nearly 26,000 sales professionals. In 2025 alone, the brand achieved approximately $182.4 billion in global sales volume, while its network generated nearly $7 billion in global referrals. Those numbers help quantify the reach of the organization, but that only tells you part of the story.

Celebrating a Legacy and Looking Fifty Years Forward

President and CEO Philip White reflected on the significance of the anniversary and the roots that have transformed Sotheby’s International Realty into a truly global real estate organization.

“The brand’s sustained growth is the result of a deliberate global strategy: expanding into key markets, strengthening the connections within our network, and delivering exceptional referral opportunities that drive meaningful results.”

White went on to emphasize that collaboration, innovation and expertise continue to define the brand worldwide.

It was particularly meaningful to hear that message in San Francisco surrounded by thousands of colleagues who make those connections possible every day. Global reach has value only when there are trusted professionals on the other end of the connection, and GNE gave us another opportunity to strengthen many of those relationships personally.

That point was reinforced by Tammy Fahmi, Senior Vice President of Global Servicing and Strategy, whose work is centered on the relationships between Sotheby’s International Realty affiliates throughout the world.

As Fahmi explains:

“By facilitating high-quality, trust-based referrals across markets, we’re not only expanding opportunities for our network but driving meaningful results for their clients.”

That last phrase is particularly important: meaningful results for their clients. The network exists not simply to make Sotheby’s International Realty larger, but to make each advisor more capable of serving a client wherever that client’s real estate needs may take them.

Lessons in Performance, Resilience and Continually Raising the Bar

One of the highlights of GNE was hearing from Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn, whose extraordinary career has been shaped not only by victories, but by preparation, setbacks, reinvention and an uncommon willingness to keep pursuing excellence through adversity.

Sotheby’s International Realty described her message at GNE as one centered on “the discipline to prepare when no one is watching, the resilience to learn from setbacks, and the courage to push beyond what’s comfortable in pursuit of what’s possible.”

During her presentation, Lindsey Vonn said she had to adapt and evolve, “that’s what adversity gives us, is an opportunity to adapt, to change, to get better. When you don’t succeed at something there is a reason, what is the reason, look for it, find it, find a way to get better.”

It is a mindset that transcends athletics. Excellence is rarely the product of a single performance. It is created through preparation, consistency, resilience and the willingness to continually improve, principles that resonate deeply in a profession built around representing clients through consequential decisions.

Another compelling perspective came from Robert Reffkin, Chairman and CEO of Compass International Holdings. Reffkin spoke about the future of real estate, technology and the position of Sotheby’s International Realty within the industry, characterizing Sotheby’s International Realty as the “global leader in real estate” and describing it as the “Goldman Sachs” of residential real estate sales. He went on to share that during visits and chats with Sotheby’s leadership and advisors, he noted that Sotheby’s International Realty was the hardest company to hire from because “the people never wanted to leave.”

Coming from one of the industry’s influential technology and brokerage leaders, these observations were particularly meaningful. The next era of real estate will undoubtedly be shaped by better data, increasingly sophisticated technology and artificial intelligence. But technology alone cannot replicate judgment, reputation or trusted relationships.

And that leads directly to one of the most significant ideas introduced around this year’s anniversary.

Well-Connected: A Global Network Made Personal

The new Sotheby’s International Realty “Well-Connected” campaign captures something we have long believed to be one of the brand’s greatest advantages.

Being global is about more than placing dots on a map.

Being well-connected means knowing the people behind those dots.

It means that when a client in San Diego tells us they are considering a second home in New York, relocating to London, investing in Portugal or selling a family property elsewhere in the country, our first step does not need to be an internet search. We can reach into our network of relationships with accomplished professionals we know, have met, worked with and can personally vet.

That distinction becomes even more important as technology makes information increasingly ubiquitous.

A. Bradley Nelson, Chief Marketing Officer of Sotheby’s International Realty, has explained that this human element is central to the thinking behind Well-Connected. As information becomes easier to access and artificial intelligence becomes more capable, trusted human connection will become more valuable, not less. Digital platforms can establish credibility and provide extraordinary exposure, but major decisions are still heavily influenced by judgment, trust and personal referrals.

Nelson has also described the strength of the brand’s marketing platform this way:

“We continue to invest in platforms and content that helps elevate agents, showcase extraordinary properties, and connect with today’s globally minded luxury consumer.”

That combination of technology, marketing and human relationships is what makes the network powerful.

For sellers, being Well-Connected means a property can be introduced to an audience extending far beyond its immediate marketplace, supported by advisors who may already know the buyer whose needs align with that property.

For buyers, it means access to trusted local expertise virtually anywhere their interests may lead them.

And for Sancia and Ben as advisors, it means that our responsibility to a client does not end at the boundaries of San Diego County, or even the United States.

Relationships Create the Network

Perhaps the most valuable moments at GNE happened away from the stage.

They happened over coffee, in the hallways between sessions, at the opening reception at SFMOMA and during the 50th-anniversary black tie celebration at San Francisco City Hall. They happened while reconnecting with longtime colleagues and sitting down with advisors from markets that we may need for a client one day. Sotheby’s International Realty itself summarized the week as a gathering filled with “meaningful connections and fresh inspiration,” culminating in a celebration of fifty years and a toast to the next fifty.

Those conversations matter because a global network is only as valuable as the relationships within it.

A logo can be global. A website can be global. Marketing can be global. A relationship makes that global reach actionable.

A relationship makes that global reach actionable.

That may be the most important takeaway from San Francisco.

After fifty years, Sotheby’s International Realty has extraordinary scale, powerful technology, industry-leading marketing and one of the most recognizable names in luxury. But its greatest asset remains remarkably human: a community of professionals around the world who know one another, trust one another and are willing to pick up the phone for one another’s clients.

For our clients at McCoy Obermueller & Associates, that means when we say we offer global reach, we are not referring simply to where your property appears online.

We are talking about relationships.

Relationships with exceptional real estate professionals throughout California, across the United States and around the world. We continue to strengthen relationships at gatherings like GNE so that when one of our clients needs expertise beyond our own market, we make a custom-curated introduction with confidence.

That is what it means to be Well-Connected.

And after celebrating fifty remarkable years in San Francisco, it is clear that those connections will play an even greater role in the next fifty.