C&W's Arthur Mirante

Well, Arthur J. Mirante was never a fishing-pole kinda guy. Needless to say, his two-decade run as CEO of New York City-based Cushman & Wakefield Inc. was stellar by any measure. In that time, company revenues swelled from $100 million to $1 billion and the global platform was firmly defined. But stepping aside did not mean stepping down, and since relinquishing the reins to hand-picked successor Bruce E. Mosler late in 2004, Mirante has led a jet-setting life as president of global client development. Meetings; dealmaking (remember the bell-ringing $1.7-billion sale of the MetLife Building ?); and a hefty share of nonprofit work fill his typical 12-hour-plus days. So Mirante is very much still in the saddle and clearly enjoying the view of someone else driving the team. In a rare interview, he sat down with GlobeSt.com to discuss change–change at the firm he helped define as well as within the industry as a whole.

GlobeSt.com: You’ve been described as a rainmaker in your new role. What exactly does that mean?

Mirante: In the broadest sense, it’s expanding our business with our existing clients and to new clients, building new relationships for the firm, promoting the firm. Last week I was invited to speak before the annual convention of Certified Financial Analysts. That’s significant, by the way. It shows that even at the street level, the people managing middle-net worth clients’ money are now focused on real estate as a part of their client’s portfolio. In a way, what I’m doing isn’t much different than before. When I was CEO I tried to carve out a significant portion of my time to be with clients and stay in touch. If you become just a manager you’re really in trouble. About 75% to 85% of my time now is with clients.