A buyer linked to Microsoft is assembling a sprawling portfolio of Palm Beach properties, in a series of deals that will likely total more than $350 million, sources told The Real Deal.
Billionaire Charles Simonyi, the early Microsoft employee credited with creating Word and Excel, is likely the buyer, sources confirmed to TRD. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Simonyi is one of the rumored buyers, as well as former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer or co-founder Bill Gates.
Simonyi, who has an estimated net worth of $8.2 billion, according to Forbes, could certainly afford the shopping spree. So could Ballmer, who has a net worth of $140.3 billion, according to Forbes. Gates is obviously Microsoft’s best-known billionaire, and has ties to Palm Beach County. His daughter, Jen Gates, is an equestrian who rides in Wellington and owns an assemblage there she bought for $33.4 million in a series of deals in 2013 and 2016, records show. Sources also say she was the buyer of the oceanfront Palm Beach mansion at 149 East Inlet Drive for $68.1 million in 2023.
For this assemblage, the buyer tapped New York City-based broker Ryan Serhant for the deals, a surprise to Palm Beach’s tight-knit circle of top agents. Serhant declined to comment for this story.
Once developed, it would be one of the most expensive estates in the U.S., but it has plenty of competition for that title on the island. Billionaire Ken Griffin made waves in the 2010s after assembling 19.3 oceanfront acres for $350 million. He is building an oceanfront compound market insiders say will be worth more than $1 billion when completed. He also owns the 2.6-acre estate next door, which he bought for $78.3 million in 2019, records show.
A list of the sellers involved in Serhant’s blockbuster deals reads like a who’s who of Palm Beach: rocker Jon Bon Jovi, billionaire beauty heir William Lauder and media mogul Cathie Black.
The centerpiece of the Simonyi-linked assemblage is 2.3 oceanfront acres at 1063 and 1071 North Ocean Boulevard. Lauder bought the lots, which have 360 feet of beachfront, for $66.3 million in 2019 and 2020, and put them on the market for $177.8 million. They went under contract in February. Sources say the deal has already gone through as a sale of the LLCs, REIWA Holding and 1063 N Ocean Blvd, and will not be recorded as a deed transfer. The final sale price is more than $160 million, according to sources. Christian Angle with Christian Angle Real Estate had the listing.
In addition to the oceanfront lots, Simonyi-linked purchases include two non-oceanfront homes directly across the street from the property, sources confirmed.
Creekshore LLC, a Delaware entity, bought the 3,600-square-foot home at 1066 North Ocean Boulevard from media mogul Cathie Black and her husband, Thomas Harvey, for $18 million in an off-market deal earlier this month. They bought the 0.3-acre home for $4.2 million in 2018, property records show. Another Delaware entity, Mango Leaf LLC, bought the adjacent 5,800-square-foot home at 1072 North Ocean Boulevard for $30 million from a trust named for the address in an off-market deal, records show. The 0.4-acre property last sold for $5.3 million in 2017.
Sources say Serhant’s buyer is also in talks to buy Bon Jovi’s oceanfront mansion at 1075 North Ocean Boulevard and William M. Rickman Jr.’s oceanfront mansion at 1055 North Ocean Boulevard, which are adjacent to the Lauder lots. The two deals have yet to close, and the prices are unknown.
Bon Jovi bought his mansion for $43 million in 2020. Built in 2007 on 0.7 acres, the 10,000-square-foot home has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two half-bathrooms, a pool, gym and wine cellar, records and prior listings show.
Rickman, a casino owner and real estate investor, bought his 10,200-square-foot mansion for $13.1 million in 2016, records show. It was built in 1935 on 0.5 acres and has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, one half-bathroom and a pool, according to property records.
If the deals go through, the assemblage will total nearly 4.2 acres. Additional properties could be under consideration as well, sources say.
Combined, they mark the most expensive purchase in Palm Beach real estate’s busy season this year. After Donald Trump’s presidential victory, home sales surged on the island. But the trophy market, defined as homes priced at $50 million or more, moved more slowly than in recent years, something agents attribute to less inventory. Brokers said pocket listings for trophy homes this season had make-me-move asking prices as high as $300 million.
