Real estate market, interest rates shift
Everyone wants to get top dollar in a real estate sale — and that even goes for the extremely rich.
Businessman Leo Kryss is suing real estate company Douglas Elliman over the $79 million sale of his Florida mansion, a 7-bedroom, 11.5-bathroom home located in what his lawsuit calls "the most prestigious and exclusive area in Miami, Indian Creek Village."
In his lawsuit, Kryss claims he asked Douglas Elliman CEO Jay Parker point-blank if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was behind the purchase. Parker allegedly "misleadingly assured Kryss that Bezos was not behind the offer and was not the purchaser," according to the lawsuit, filed in July in the circuit court of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County.
Parker also allegedly asserted that the buyer would not pay more than $79 million for the home, versus the $85 million listing price, the lawsuit claims.
Because of the assurance, Kryss allegedly agreed to discount the property's price by $6 million, settling on the sale price of $79 million.
"But for these misrepresentations and in reliance upon [Parker's] duties to deal honestly, fairly, and with due care towards T.A.M., Kryss would not have reduced the purchase price or sold the home for $79,000,000," the lawsuit claims. T.A.M. refers to Tendencia Asset Management, the company that negotiated on behalf of Kryss.
Bezos is the world's second richest person behind Elon Musk, with a net worth of $202 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Douglas Elliman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
A discount of $6 million represents about 0.006% of Bezos's net worth.
Leo Kryss, the co-founder of Brazilian toy and electronics company Tectoy, bought the property at 12 Indian Creek Island Road for $28 million in 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal, which earlier reported on the lawsuit. The waterfront estate, built in 2000, is located in a neighborhood known as a haven for the ultra-wealthy, with neighbors including Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady, the Miami Herald notes.
It's common for high-end properties to be bought by trusts or business partnerships on behalf of wealthy individuals, whose names might not be known to the real estate agents representing them. The lawsuit notes that a trust completed the purchase of Kryss' mansion on behalf of Bezos.
Kryss speculated that Bezos might be behind the offer on his home because the Amazon founder had previously acquired 11 Indian Creek Island Road, a property adjacent to his mansion, the lawsuit notes.
It added, "Kryss believed that it was highly material to his negotiations and his decision on the ultimate sales price of the home to know whether Bezos was interested in his home and if Bezos was attempting to anonymously acquire the home in order to assemble it with the adjoining property that Bezos already purchased."
Kryss' property "would be significantly more valuable to Bezos than to other potential buyers," the lawsuit claims.
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.