A man who sold his Miami mansion on an exclusive island is suing the real estate agency that persuaded him to reduce the asking price of the home by $6 million.
The lawsuit, filed by electronics tycoon Leo Kryss, is seeking $6 million from his real estate agency Douglas Elliman. He claims that the company convinced him to reduce the asking price of the house, saying it was the final price that the buyer would offer.
They also wouldn’t tell Kryss who the seller was.
Only after the sale went through did Kryss find out that the buyer of his exclusive home was Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon and the second-richest person in the world.
The home is located on Indian Creek island in Miami, a private island that has been dubbed “Billionaire Bunker.” There are only 41 homes on the island, and some of its residents include former NFL star Tom Brady and Ivanka Trump.
Bezos recently bought the home next to Kryss’ for $68 million and was interested in buying Kryss’ home as well right next door.
The final sales price of the home was $79 million, which is $6 million less than Kryss had it listed for.
As his lawsuit claims:
“It was highly material to his negotiations and his decision on the ultimate sales price to know whether Bezos was attempting to anonymously acquire the home in order to assemble it with the adjoining property.”
Last June, Bezos acquired the property next door located at 11 Indian Creek Island Road.
Kryss said he expected that the offer he received on his home only 12 weeks after Bezos bought the home next door was coming from Bezos, who in addition to Amazon also owns the Washington Post.
But, when he explicitly asked Jay Parker, the Florida CEO of Douglas Elliman, he flatly denied it.
Kryss made his fortune founding Tectoy, an electronics company based in Brazil. He bought the home, which has seven bedrooms, in 2014 for $28 million.
He initially listed the home for $85 million in May 2023, confident that some of the home’s features — including its pool, theater, library and wine cellar — would justify that asking price.
Homes on the island have skyrocketed in price in recent years, thanks to the tech industry in Miami blossoming so quickly. There are only 124 acres on the island, which makes it very exclusive.
The home that sold for $68 million next to Kryss’ was originally purchased in 1982 for only $1.4 million.
You can only access the island by one bridge that is guarded and protected by a private police force, which also patrols the community 24/7 by land, foot and sky.
Residents of the island also have access to a private 18-hole golf course and an exclusive country club.
The 41 homes on the island have a median price of $29.5 million. The island has been dubbed “the world’s most exclusive municipality.”
