Introducing the new king of Florida.
New York financier Scott Shleifer, co-founder of private equity unit Tiger Global Management, has been revealed as the mysterious buyer who splashed $ 122.7 million – in cash – to buy an oceanfront spec house in Palm Beach, which was once owned by Donald Trump. It is the highest ever paid for a property in Palm Beach or, incidentally, for a home anywhere in the state of Florida.
“He flew during the day, looked at the house for about 15 minutes, ended the cash transaction and then flew back to New York,” a source familiar with the business told The Post.
“He is just a type of family who is very good at math,” the source added.
Shleifer’s $ 40 billion company had a stellar year in 2020 – and he’s not alone.
David Tepper, the New Jersey hedge funder, also paid $ 70 million for a pandemic mansion in Palm Beach, according to reports.
“These guys are the same,” the source said. “For them, it is just a cover against the market. They fly to Miami or Palm Beach and go to a place like Cipriani’s, which I know from New York. They get a meal in the back, or simply to eat because of COVID. These guys are very aware of COVID. They don’t want to be with people and they don’t have to be in New York. Nobody has to be here. You just know it. That’s so crazy. I can do whatever they want. ”
Shleifer’s new excavations come with a nine-bedroom mansion and a guest house, which together total 21,000 square meters. The main house is ready for fun, with large rooms, bar, games room, wine cellar and beauty salon. The outdoor area has a swimming pool and an outdoor cinema. Built last year, the 2-acre property has been on the market for just one month, demanding $ 140 million.
But despite the staggering price, the property, located at 535 North County Road, cannot shake its controversial history.
The land was once part of a 6.2-acre property that housed the Maison de L’Amitie or the House of Friendship. Ironically, the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and former president, then a businessman, both fought for the estate when it was sold in a bankruptcy auction in 2005. Trump overtook Epstein, paying $ 41.3 million for the property. .
Prior to that, in the late 1980s, the property was owned by Epstein’s benefactor, retail billionaire Les Wexner, who gave Epstein his Manhattan mansion used by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to care for and abuse underage girls and host bedrooms for alleged colleagues who abuse minors. like Prince Andrew.
Wexner paid $ 10 million for the Palm Beach property in 1985.
In 2008, Trump unloaded the estate on Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev – who made headlines when he bought Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” for $ 450 million – for $ 95 million. The deal brought Trump a $ 54 million profit and became the subject of Robert Mueller’s Russian investigation.
Rybolovlev destroyed the house and sold three adjacent lots for the combined price of $ 108.2 million, according to reports – less than the cost of transporting the property combined with the costs associated with the demolition of the mansion.
Rybolovlev’s spokesman once told this reporter that it was a smart deal, because he would make money selling the subdivisions – but Rybolovlev would never have made any money.
In the latest record deal, reality TV star and broker Ryan Serhant worked with Douglas Elliman’s Christopher Leavitt as the buyer’s representative. Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates gave up the sale.