Jeff Bezos’ $79M Mansion Sale Triggers Miami Seller to File Lawsuit

Leo Kryss sold a Miami mansion to Jeff Bezos for $79 million. Now Kryss is filing a lawsuit because he believes he could have sold it for more, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Kryss, co-founder of Brazilian toy company Tectoy, listed his seven-bedroom mansion in Indian Creek, Miami-Dade County, Florida, for $85 million in May 2023. The property included a home theater, wine cellar, library and swimming pool, and was adjacent to a three-bedroom home worth $68 million that Bezos purchased in June 2023.

When Kryss received an offer to buy the property, he had a sneaking suspicion that his new neighbor was behind the sale. The seller said he heard from Jay Parker, CEO of Douglas Elliman’s Broker in the Florida region, who assured Kryss that the Amazon founder was not the buyer and that the buyer would not pay more than $79 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.

When Kryss sold his mansion for $79 million — $6 million below the asking price — he learned the buyer was actually connected to Bezos.

Kryss claimed that knowledge of Bezos’s intention to acquire neighboring properties would have been “very significant” to his decision and that it ultimately cost him $6 million, according to the complaint filed in Miami-Dade County and viewed by the Journal. Kryss is suing Douglas Elliman, which received a commission of more than $3 million for handling the sale of the properties.

Parker of Douglas Elliman said in an email to Kryss that he also did not know who Bezos was as a buyer and thought the property would be purchased by the family of Benny Klepach, the mayor of Indian Creek Village, the Journal reported.

Klepach’s daughter, Celine, joined Elliman before the sale closed and earned a commission on the property. While Celine Klepach has since left the company, she and her attorney have denied any involvement in the transaction, the Journal reported.

Danny Hertzberg, a real estate agent with Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker, told the Journal that wealthy buyers often hide their identities to avoid higher markups from sellers.

Indian Creek, also known as the “Billionaire Bunker,” is an exclusive village on a private island in Biscayne Bay. It is known for its ultra-wealthy residents, including Bezos, former NFL star Tom Brady and Jared Kushner, former White House adviser and husband of Ivanka Trump. A total of 41 real estate parcels surround the Indian Creek Golf Club in the center of the 300-acre island, which has no beach access.

The island was named the most expensive city in the U.S. in 2021 by Zillow and has strong security. Bezos owns three properties on the island, with the most recent purchase in April costing $90 million.

Kryss did not respond to requests for comment sent outside normal business hours. Douglas Elliman declined to comment.