Much has changed for Eliot Spitzer since he resigned as governor of New York in 2008, only 15 months after taking office, amid revelations that he was a client of a prostitution ring.

He and his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, divorced after 26 years of marriage. Hopes of a political comeback ended in disappointment, as he lost the Democratic primary for New York City comptroller in 2013. He also suffered the ignominy of having CNN cancel his political talk show, “In the Arena,” after nine months.

But now, after his father’s death in November, Mr. Spitzer has found himself unexpectedly embracing a role he has largely sought to avoid all his life: assuming stewardship of Spitzer Enterprises, the family real estate business.

Politics is in “my rearview mirror,” Mr. Spitzer said in an interview on June 10, his 56th birthday. “This,” he said after a pause, “is exciting.”