But things looked a lot different just two decades ago when he first moved to the city. Eklund was handing out paninis in front of the Late Show with David Letterman for just $15 an hour before he got a shot at selling luxe apartments. 

“This was at a time when New York—and I didn’t know it then—was very undervalued,” Eklund tells Fortune. “And it was about to explode in what I’ve been focusing on: new developments, and these new beautiful buildings.”

“I was a little bit lucky to happen to fall into it; I got my license at NYU and I got a job from someone stupid enough to hire me with no experience.”

Eklund now leads a real estate powerhouse of around 100 agents, the The Eklund|Gomes Team, at luxury firm Douglas Elliman. He leads offices in 10 markets, with celebrity clientele ranging from Jennifer Lopez to Joe Jonas, as he takes over America’s real estate scene. Aside from New York, the self-made millionaire also has his eyes set on Miami as a sales ambassador for a $2 billion luxury living project in Bahia Mar, working with real estate titan Jorge M. Pérez’s Related Group. 

But his rise to fame in the industry—and on Bravo—was anything but meteoric. It took years to achieve success after Eklund cleaned his slate and moved from Stockholm to New York City with nothing. No connections, no business, and no clear plan of what he wanted to pursue. 

“It was very scary to not really know the city, because I didn’t have any context here,” Eklund says. “Nobody would give me any business, because I didn’t know anybody.”

From handing out paninis outside David Letterman to helping close $15 billion in real estate 

Needless to say, Eklund didn’t propel straight into a top real estate firm when trying to find his first gig in New York City.

“We were handing out paninis for free for one of those cafe restaurants right outside David Letterman,” Eklund recalls. “As part of the job, we got a penny a panini. I think we got $15 to $20 an hour, which is not bad. They had some free lunch.”

But Eklund was determined to not hand out paninis for life, and then a friend suggested real estate as a potential career path, fitting for Eklund’s outgoing persona. Intrigued by the idea, Eklund soon got his real estate license from New York University, and a boutique property agency offered him a role. Six months later, he landed his first client. And it was all thanks to his friend being perceptive on what profession Eklund could stand out in. 

“After the paninis thing, I was like, ‘What am I actually going to really do?’” Eklund says. “A friend of mine told me that I would be really good at real estate, because I have this crazy persona—a very large, eccentric, entertaining, and bubbly personality. But I’m also super driven, cutthroat, and very competitive.”

Millions of viewers from across the country would soon tune into his competitive edge on Million Dollar Listing New York. Eklund was an original cast member when the Bravo show premiered in 2012, and stayed on for a full decade until his departure in 2022. 

Ever since, Eklund had been building his own real estate empire, recording $3.77 billion in sales across New York, California, Florida, and Texas in 2023 alone. Notable clientele include Sex and the City icon Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as Hollywood power couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. And Eklund says he’s proud that he’s built his $15 billion empire from the ground-up.

“I didn’t have all those contacts, or a sort of easy beginning. Nobody did me a favor, or my dad or mom,” Eklund says. “I did it all by myself—I put it all on this one thing, and it worked.”

A word of caution to aspiring real estate millionaires: Success doesn’t come fast

While Eklund has two decades of accomplishments under his belt, he has a word of caution for other aspiring real estate agents looking to replicate his success. Becoming well established in the profession takes years to get there, and doubt creeps in along the way. 

“I would say it takes five years to really make it,” Eklund warns. “It’s a very difficult industry because it’s super, super competitive, so you cannot give up like I almost did. I wanted to give up after two, three years. I was like, ‘This is not for me, I’m not doing well enough.’”

Being able to tough out the early years can lead to million-dollar closings across New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, but it takes a certain type of person to make the cut. While Eklund says he has the eccentric personality and drive to stand out, there’s another part of his persona that’s a double-edged sword in the job. It could be the trait that makes or breaks someone in real estate, but he leverages the perceived flaw to his advantage. 

“[Real estate is] an art and a craft, and the only way to learn is the hard way. You cannot really learn it in school. [You’ve] gotta be out on the streets, the mean streets,” Eklund explains. “It takes a long time, and if you’re an impulsive and impatient person—which I am, and can make you even more successful at work—it’s very easy to kind of find a new hobby or a new thing.”