Billionaire Thomas Kirk Kristiansen, whose great-grandfather Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded the toymaker Lego, bought an equestrian estate in Wellington for $25.5 million. It marks the most expensive sale in the horse-centric enclave so far this year.
Records show Thomas Kirk Kristiansen bought the 14.2-acre compound at 3585 Olde Hampton Drive from Shady Grove Road Commercial Properties, a Delaware entity managed by Michael Hall in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Jackson Brittan with the MB Real Estate Group represented Kirk Kristiansen. Douglas Elliman’s Maria Mendelsohn, one of the top agents specializing in equestrian real estate, had the listing.
Kirk Kristiansen splits a 75 percent ownership stake in Lego with his two sisters and father, according to Forbes. It estimates his net worth at $7.5 billion. His wife, Signe Kirk Kristiansen, is a competitive equestrian and competes in dressage events, including at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, according to Eurodressage.
The Olde Hampton Drive farm last sold in 2023 for $21.7 million. The seller was BET co-founder Sheila Johnson. The estate includes multiple training rings and two barns, totaling 28 horse stalls, the listing shows. Atop the smaller, eight-stall barn is a three-bedroom owner’s apartment with two bedrooms and one half-bathroom. Attached to the larger, 20-stall barn are two four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments and one two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment for staff, the listing shows.
It hit the market for $28.5 million in January, Zillow shows.
The estate is in Wellington’s Grand Prix Village, a neighborhood prized among equestrian buyers for its proximity to Wellington International, the showgrounds that host the Winter Equestrian Festival.
During WEF, which runs from January through the end of March, Wellington is the epicenter of the equestrian world. Many riders relocate to the village to train full-time during the competition’s season, fueling a market for equestrian estates. High-profile equestrians like Bill Gates’ daughter Jennifer Gates, and her husband Nayel Nassar, train in Wellington, as does Steve Jobs’ daughter Eve Jobs and Bruce Springsteen’s daughter Jessica Springsteen.
Pricey sales in Wellington have slowed since the height of the pandemic-era market. In 2022, a trust linked to the Gates family sold an equestrian estate for $26 million. In 2023, Johnson & Johnson heiress Alison Firestone Robitaille sold her estate for $10.9 million.
