The man who sold his mansion to Jeff Bezos is suing the real estate agency for not telling him that the buyer was one of the richest men in the world. Written by UNN with references to the WSJ and DER SPIEGEL.
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The seller of a multimillion-dollar villa learns about the buyer only after the transaction. Brazilian entrepreneur Leo Criss has filed a lawsuit against the brokerage firm Douglas Elliman. Criss claims that he was misled about the identity of the buyer, and therefore he reduced the price by $6 million.
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Leo Criss, co-founder of Tectoy, a São Paulo-based toy and electronics company, was selling his 1,700-square-meter mansion in Miami's ultra-exclusive Indian Creek Village neighborhood. Initially, the price was $85 million. Later, a client came forward. Douglas Elliman's Douglas Elliman represented both sides of the transaction.
Jay Parker, Ellison's representative in Florida, called Criss and told him that the buyer was not related to the famous tycoon. The real estate agent assured him that the buyer would not pay any more money under any circumstances. The owner agreed to a 7.1% price reduction and sold his property in May 2023 for $79 million.
It was only after the deal was concluded that it turned out that Jeff Bezos, an American billionaire entrepreneur, was behind the purchase. He is the head and founder of the Internet company Amazon.com.
In fact, it is extremely important to know the identity of the buyer to be able to better negotiate the price, as Bezos apparently wanted to combine his properties on the island, the publication notes.
Now Criss wants to get the difference from Douglas Elliman. Criss and his lawyer accuse Elliman of breaching his duties and concealing important information.
The company that represented both sides of the deal denies the allegations, the WSJ reports. A company spokesperson said it could not comment on ongoing litigation.
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