An electronics dealer is suing a realtor who persuaded him to raise the asking price of a home by $6 million without telling him the buyer was the world’s second-richest man.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was in the midst of a home-buying spree last year when he was drawn to a 19,000-square-foot mansion on Miami’s Indian Creek Island for sale for $85 million.
The private island dubbed the “Billionaire Bunker” boasts Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady among its 41 addresses, and Bezos just ran next door for $68 million.
Owner Leo Kreis accepted a $79 million offer and is suing affiliate Douglas Elliman for the missing $6 million, claiming the real estate firm hid the identity of the billionaire buyer and told him $79 million was the final offer.
“It was very material to his negotiations and his decision regarding the final sale price to determine whether Bezos was trying to anonymously acquire the home to combine it with an adjacent property,” the lawsuit alleges.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos just bought the house on the right for $68 million when he made an offer on the other house, which was listed for $85 million in May of last year.
The world’s second-richest man, pictured with wife Lauren Sanchez, offered $6 million below the asking price without revealing his identity.
Bezos, who is currently worth more than $200 billion, grabbed headlines last June when he bought a house on Indian Creek Island’s 11th Street for $68 million.
Chris claims he suspects the offer on his home at No. 12 came just weeks later from the owner of The Washington Post, but Elimin Florida CEO Jay Parker flatly denied it when asked.
Chris, who made his fortune from Brazilian electronics company Techway, bought the seven-bedroom home in 2014 for $28 million.
But he was confident that its wine cellar, library, theater and pool would help it secure its $85 million asking price when it was listed in May last year.
The 124-acre island has seen home prices rocket for decades, fueled by Miami’s booming technology industry, and a nearby $68 million home went for just $1.4 million in 1982.
The island is accessible only by a single, guarded bridge and is guarded by a private police force that patrols around the clock by foot, sky and land.
Residents enjoy access to an exclusive country club and private 18-hole golf course while Miami’s South Beach is just eight miles away.
With a median home price of $29.5 million and just 41 homes, Indian Creek has been named “the world’s most unique municipality.”
Brazilian gaming tycoon Leo Cris, pictured next to his family, claims realtor Douglas Elliman flatly denied Bezos was behind the purchase when he raised his suspicions.
Bezos owns several properties on Indian Creek Island along with retired NFL star Tom Brady and former first daughter Ivanka Trump.
Privately owned residences are popular with billionaires, celebrities, and power brokers thanks to their privacy and security.
The area has previously attracted the likes of Jay-Z and Beyoncé, as well as current residents including investors Carl Icahn and Jared Kushner.
Kushner and ex-daughter Ivanka Trump bought their home for $24 million in April 2021 and spent more than two years renovating it.
Carl Icahn reportedly bought the mansion in 1997 for $7.5 million, while Columbian banker Jim Gilinsky amassed five properties to build his family compound.
It was only after Chris agreed to a reduced offer that he discovered that Bezos owned the company that created it.
Six months later, the Amazon owner bought his third home on the island when he paid $90 million for a home that was only worth $2.5 million in 1998.
“A lot of billionaires, when they buy property, worry that when the seller knows their identity they’re going to want a big number,” Miami real estate agent Danny Hertzberg told the WSJ.
His purchases were another addition to a property portfolio worth more than $600 million in New York, Washington, D.C., Beverly Hills and West Texas.
In 2022, the billionaire added a private Hawaiian estate that spans 14 acres and is surrounded by inactive lava fields to his collection.
The three-building estate, located on the beautiful La Perouse Bay of Valley Isle in Maui, Hawaii, set the former Amazon CEO back an estimated $78 million.
A year ago he added a luxury Manhattan apartment to the chain of properties he already owns on high-end Fifth Avenue in New York City.
The businessman bought five properties over three years to build the original mega mansion.
Miami’s Indian Creek Island overlooking Biscayne Bay is known as the “Billionaire’s Bunker” thanks to its super-rich residents, a mix of celebrities and business moguls.
In April, Bezos spent $90 million on a third mansion on Indian Creek Island, bringing his total investment in the area, known as the “Billionaire Bunker,” to $237 million.
His latest home is apart of the extravagant mansions owned by real estate developer Jeff Sofer and NFL legend Tom Brady.
The Amazon tycoon plans to live in a home he recently bought in an off-market transaction while tearing down a pair of mansions, according to Bloomberg.
In 2016 he dropped $23 million on a former textile museum in Washington, D.C.’s exclusive Kalorama neighborhood, and also bought a $5 million property across the street that directly overlooked the former museum property.
Douglas Elliman, who acted for both the buyer and the seller in the sale of Chris’ home, received a four percent commission on the sale, the equivalent of about $3 million, the WSJ reported.
A company spokesman said it would not comment on the pending lawsuit filed in the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County.
But Chris’ lawyer, Dana Clayton, said that ‘Douglas Elliman failed to fulfill his duties to our client’.
“They knew, or should have known, who the last profitable customer was and misrepresented this very important fact to our customer,” she added.
#Man #sold #Miami #mansion #million #sues #identity #mystery #buyer #discovered