How the ‘Selling Sunset’ Stars Built Their Real-Estate Empire

• Jason and Brett Oppenheim both started their careers in law before moving to real estate. 
• The Oppenheim Group, featured on Netflix’s “Selling Sunset,” has made over $3 billion in sales.
• Here’s what we know about how the brothers have each earned and spent their fortunes. 

Jason and Brett Oppenheim have built multiple empires — one in real estate, and another in reality television.

The brothers are both renowned real-estate brokers. According to The Oppenheim Group’s website, the brokerage has made over $3 billion in total sales to date. What made the brokerage a household name, however, was the Netflix reality series “Selling Sunset” and its spinoff series “Selling the OC,” both of which document the real-estate sales and interpersonal drama at The Oppenheim Group’s Los Angeles and Orange County offices, respectively.

While the brothers’ specific net worths haven’t been publicly disclosed, they’ve each sold millions — and in some cases, bought millions — in real estate.

Here’s how Brett and Jason Oppenheim went from working as lawyers to having successful real-estate careers.

Both Jason and Brett began their professional lives as lawyers

According to Jason’s profile on The Oppenheim Group website, he earned both his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of California, Berkeley. After college, he worked as a lawyer at the law firm O’Melveny & Myers — and in the process, represented the former CEO of Enron during the Enron scandal. His salary as a lawyer was $250,000 a year, Swagger Magazine reported.

According to Brett’s profile on the Oppenheim Real Estate website, he also earned his bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley and then earned a law degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. He went on to work at Skadden, Arps LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP as a securities litigation attorney.

Brett was the first brother to move into real estate, and has closed over $1 billion in sales

According to Brett’s website, when he left law, he decided to travel the world. In 2010, he returned to Los Angeles and decided to pivot into a career in real estate. As Brett told Tudum, he quit his law career and got his real-estate license before his brother Jason did.

Per Brett’s website, he’s sold over $1 billion in real estate over the course of his career. Currently, he’s the owner, president, and broker of record of Oppenheim Real Estate. But as shown on “Selling Sunset,” Brett still apparently works with his brother at The Oppenheim Group.

Jason has closed over $3 billion in sales and also collects a portion of his agents’ transactions

Jason’s Oppenheim Group profile, which lists him as the brokerage’s president and founder, says that he has closed over $3 billion in sales, and currently has over $300 million in active real-estate listings. Those listings include “the largest home in the Hollywood Hills and one of the largest listings in Los Angeles at $100 million.”

Insider reported in 2022 that Jason closed $429 million in sales the previous year. As the owner of The Oppenheim Group, Jason also collects a portion of other agents’ sales at the brokerage.

When Jason first moved into real estate, he was tens of thousands in debt

Swagger Magazine reported that when Jason (who, like his brother, traveled the world before switching careers) returned to Los Angeles in 2010, he had $40,000 in credit-card debt. When he joined Coldwell Banker, he made less than $50,000 a year, according to the report.

Jason’s Oppenheim Group profile notes that he worked at Coldwell Banker for three years before founding The Oppenheim Group, where he is currently the president.

Both brothers have been heavily involved with The Oppenheim Group

Jason told Insider in 2022 that The Oppenheim Group has grown 20-25% in revenue each year since it began operating in 2014. Insider reported at the time that the brokerage as a whole had $2 billion in estimated total sales.

In November 2021, Jason told The Real Deal that the group’s Orange County office, which opened that year, had closed $100 million in sales. The group has also opened offices in San Diego and Cabo San Lucas, per its website.

Jason has also worked as a teacher and given expert testimony in real-estate cases

According to his Oppenheim Group profile, Jason was hired at UCLA to teach real-estate practice. He’s also provided expert testimony in real-estate cases.

Jason and Brett appear on ‘Selling Sunset’ and its spinoff series, ‘Selling the OC’

Jason and Brett both frequently appear on “Selling Sunset,” which is now in its seventh season at Netflix after premiering in 2019. The brothers also appear in “Selling the OC,” a spinoff series focused on The Oppenheim Group’s Orange County office, which has run for two seasons.

The terms of their overall deal with Netflix haven’t been made public, so it’s unclear exactly what they’ve made off of the shows.

Jason has been involved in charity

According to Swagger Magazine, Jason has contributed both time and money to Food on Foot, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit geared towards helping unhoused and low-income Angelenos.

“Before I was successful in real estate, I had more of my time to give to Food on Foot,” Jason told Swagger. “Now that I have less time in my schedule, I am able to monetarily donate more generously, but I still encourage everyone on my team to be active members and give back to our community.”

Jason has bought, renovated, and sold several properties

Jason told People in October 2020 that he had purchased a $5.125 million mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The home was previously built and owned by Jeremy Renner, per The Los Angeles Times. According to the Times, at the time he bought it, that home was the fifth that Jason had purchased in the five years prior.

But as People reported in September 2021, Jason listed the house for $7,995,000 after a “seven-figure” renovation of the property. According to Realtor.com, he had been renting out the home for $49,000 a month prior to the decision to list it.

The LA Times reported in November 2021 that Jason had purchased a $7 million mansion in Newport Beach, closer to the brokerage’s Orange County office in Corona Del Mar. The Newport Beach home spans 13,000 square feet, with six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, two garages, and multiple indoor-outdoor spaces. The Orange County Register reported in May 2023 that Oppenheim had listed the mansion for close to $15 million, also listing it for lease at $43,500 a month.

Jason also spoke with The Los Angeles Times in 2019 about a $5 million renovation that he did on one of his other homes in the Hollywood Hills. He originally purchased that home for $3.5 million.

Brett owns and renovates real estate in the Hollywood Hills too

According to his profile on the Los Angeles Oppenheim Group website, Brett also currently lives in the Hollywood Hills “where he renovates and develops properties for his personal real-estate profile.”

Jason also spends some of his fortune on cars, and both brothers collect vintage sports cards

In a September 2023 Instagram post including a video of him receiving a FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance electric car, Jason said that “if you know me, you know how much I love cars.”

Hotcars reported in August 2022 that Gotham Garage had done a “six-figure” build for Jason based on a Chevy Corvette Mako Shark 2. Jason told Insider in 2022 that he owns a 1966 Ford Bronco and a Bentley as well.

Jason also has an expensive hobby. In the same interview, he told Insider that he and his brother both collect vintage sports cards, which is something they did as kids. Jason paid $250,000 for Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton’s 1976 rookie card.