Well, for those who don’t know yet, this Indian Creek lawsuit is kinda all about a high-stakes sale gone wrong. Do you know anything about it? Well, under the circumstances, Leo Kryss, a Brazilian businessman, was unable to sweep the sale of his luxury mansion located at Miami’s exclusive Indian Creek Village. Like, he thought that he was doing just himself a favor by parting ways with the house but he later found out that the buyer actually was the man himself, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. Kryss claims that had he known Bezos was the one behind the purchase he would have never agreed to a price drop of $6 million. So, let’s see what is really going on in this lawsuit.
The Mansion and Why It Matters
Ok, just so we are clear from the very start, you see, this isn’t just ANY property, we’re talking about a breathtaking mansion. Specifically, it’s a mansion in Indian Creek Village, one of Miami’s elite neighborhoods that has been home to high-profile people like Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady. It’s a well-known fact that in 2014, Kryss, the owner of the mansion, bought it for $28 million. Without a single doubt, the mansion is spacious, with seven bedrooms, eleven and a half bathrooms, and provides some incredibly picturesque views. And just so you know, Kryss ultimately marketed the property for $85 million. Since Bezos already had the chance to acquire the land next door, Kryss’s mansion became uniquely positioned for him and possibly worth more to him than other buyers, you know?
Here Are The Key Players: Kryss, Elliman, and Bezos
All in all, the people here are basically well-known figures. Kryss, one of the co-owners of Tectoy in Brazil, is an advanced businessman. Douglas Elliman, the luxury real estate company he dealt with, is noteworthy. Its CEO, Jay Parker, personally coordinated the sale with Kryss. And then there is Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, who is mainly interested in acquiring prime Miami real estate which importantly is next to the one he owns at the moment.
How It All Went Down, Step By Step
It is kinda true that Kryss made his mansion look very expensive, worth $85 million, because he expected the ultimate buyers to be rich and high-profile people, you know? Even in the negotiating process, he felt that Bezos could be a prospective buyer, moreover, the news that Bezos had bought the adjacent estate recently made him suspicious. Kryss asked the broker Jay Parker the question whether the buyer was the high-profile billionaire he had in mind. Kryss states even now that Parker firmly answered him that it was not Bezos who wanted to buy the property, the likely buyer wouldn’t go above $79 million. Hence, Kryss was inclined to trust Parker’s piece of information and he accepted the low offer.
However, the day after Kryss made the sale, he discovered that indeed the buyer had been Bezos. And sure, he felt someone betrayed him and he sued Douglas Elliman, claiming he would rather not have gone through with the sale if he had known that Bezos was a possible buyer. As it was thought, for Bezos, the only reason to buy the adjoining land was because of the value it would add given its close proximity to his estate, thus he would have considered it a larger investment than its selling price.
Why Kryss Is Suing, Like What Went Wrong?
Kryss’s lawsuit is based on the allegation that Douglas Elliman had been concealing relevant data regarding a buyer’s identity, and that’s kinda the main concern in this entire situation. Kryss believes that Parker and his company, being his representatives, were responsible for complete communication about the negotiations, especially involving elements that could change the price. He insists that awareness of Bezos’s participation was “highly material,” since the fact that the mansion was right next to Bezos’s other property could have been a strong incentive for a higher price.
