Introducing the new king of Florida.
New York financier Scott Shleifer, co-founder of Tiger Global Management’s private equity unit, was revealed as the mysterious buyer who spent $ 122.7 million – in cash – to buy a specification house by the sea in Palm Beach that was once owned by Donald Trump. It is the highest amount ever paid for a property in Palm Beach, or, by the way, a home anywhere in the state of Florida.
“He flew during the day, looked at the house for about 15 minutes, closed the deal all in cash and then flew back to New York,” a source who had exclusive knowledge of the business told The Post.
“He’s just a family guy who’s really good at math,” added the source.
Shleifer’s company, which manages $ 40 billion, had a stellar year in 2020 – and he is not alone.
New Jersey-based hedge fund financier David Tepper also just paid $ 70 million for a pandemic mansion in Palm Beach, according to reports.
“These guys are all the same,” said the source. “For them, it is just a protection against the market. They fly to Miami or Palm Beach and go to a place like Cipriani’s, which they know from New York. They get a table in the back, or just takeout for COVID. These guys are super aware of COVID. They don’t want to be made by people and they don’t need to be in New York anymore. Nobody needs to be here. You just know that. This is what is so crazy. They can do whatever they want. ”
Shleifer’s new facility includes a nine-bedroom mansion and a guest house, which together total 21,000 square feet. The main house is prepared for entertainment, with spacious rooms, bar, games room, wine cellar and beauty salon. The outdoor space has a swimming pool and an open-air cinema room. Built last year, the 2-acre property was on the market for a mere month, asking for $ 140 million.
But despite the impressive price, the property, located at 535 North County Road, cannot get rid of its controversial history.
The land was once part of a 6.2-acre property that housed the Maison de L’Amitie, or Casa da Amizade. Ironically, the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the former president, then a businessman, fought for the property when it was sold at a bankruptcy auction in 2005. Trump beat Epstein’s bid by paying $ 41.3 million for the property.
Before that, in the late 1980s, the property belonged to Epstein’s benefactor, retail billionaire Les Wexner, who presented Epstein with his Manhattan mansion used by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to prepare and abuse minor girls and to host rape sexual acts of alleged underage companions like Prince Andrew.
Wexner paid $ 10 million for the Palm Beach property in 1985.
In 2008, Trump transferred ownership to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev – who made headlines when he bought Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” for $ 450 million – for $ 95 million. The deal earned Trump a profit of $ 54 million and became the subject of Robert Mueller’s investigation in Russia.
Rybolovlev destroyed the house and sold three adjacent lots for a combined price of $ 108.2 million, according to reports – less than the cost of maintaining the property combined with the costs associated with demolishing 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, reportedly, never made a dime from it.
In the latest record-breaking deal, reality show star and broker Ryan Serhant worked with Christopher Leavitt of Douglas Elliman to represent the buyer. Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates represented the seller.