Mystery buyer snapping up multiple real estate properties worth $250M near Mar-a-Lago

A mystery is evolving in Palm Beach, Florida, as a “billionaire bunker” has formed near President Donald Trump’s home of Mar-a-Lago.

Questions continue to arise after reports that an unidentified buyer – or perhaps a group of buyers – had been snapping up prime oceanfront real estate on the strip of land in South Florida. Two oceanfront lots and two adjacent homes have reportedly been part of the $250 million spending spree near Mar-a-Lago.

“I haven’t heard specifically that number until it was published, but I know that there are several players touting Palm Beach and trying to make behind-closed-door offers to people on the island who create larger assemblages,” OneWorld Properties CEO Peggy Olin told Fox News Digital.

The buying spree seemed to hit a snag as rocker Jon Bon Jovi reportedly “resisted overtures to sell his property,” which sits next to another recently purchased piece of real estate.

“So far, the buyer has paid roughly $250 million for four separate properties, and is pushing for more, according to people familiar with the situation,” The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

An unidentified buyer or group of buyers is assembling one of the priciest estates in the country.

Read more: https://t.co/4uJTOILZqL pic.twitter.com/XAKenmoEAi

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 7, 2025

Billionaire cosmetics heir William Lauder sold two oceanfront lots close to the $200 million asking price in February, but the sale was reportedly not recorded in public records. Ryan Serhant of Serhant, the agent for the mystery buyer, declined to identify his client.

“In early June, the same deep-pocketed buyer paid $18 million for the Mediterranean-style house across the street. The sellers of the roughly 3,600-square-foot home, retired attorney Thomas Harvey and media executive Cathleen Black, had purchased it for $4.15 million in 2018, property records show. In an email, Harvey said he doesn’t know the true identity of the buyer, who made an unsolicited offer for his house,” WSJ reported.

The property next to the former Harvey house was then sold for $30 million in June to a limited liability company that was connected to the same buyer. But the mystery buyer has been unable to persuade Bon Jovi, who lives next door to the former Lauder property, to sell his mansion, which was purchased in July 2020 for $43 million, according to Realtor.com.

Jon Bon Jovi and His $43 Million Palm Beach Mansion Put a Halt to Mystery Buyer’s Plans for Real Estate Takeover in Florida Enclave

-realtor.com pic.twitter.com/8YzPlgnZZ9

— REAL Hungry Properties Investing (@rhpinvesting) July 1, 2025

An analysis of incorporation records revealed that the Delaware-based limited liability company that bought the inland properties has ties to Seattle-based lawyer Greyson Blue, who works for a firm connected to the father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

“Blue previously worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, now the Gates Foundation, according to his LinkedIn profile, and is listed as a member of several companies tied to the Gates family,” WSJ reported, noting that a “person close to the Gates Foundation said Gates isn’t the buyer of the Palm Beach properties.”

“Two acres directly on the ocean with 360 feet of water frontage, along with the properties across the street, is extremely rare to find in Palm Beach,” said Dana Koch, a local agent with the Corcoran Group. “We just don’t have these kinds of large properties available for sale. After buying all of these properties at a mind-boggling number, [the buyer] is protecting his investment and affording himself even more privacy.”

“The privacy, lifestyle, tax benefit, all of those are the catalysts that we’re seeing driving activity across [properties] around South Florida. So, I feel that it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case,” Olin told Fox News Digital in reacting to the suggestion of Gates’ name.

“Like him or Ken Griffin or Jeff Bezos, all of these guys are seeing South Florida as their future,” she added. “Palm Beach, in general, is becoming one of the few places in the country where you find the billionaire bunker situation or billionaire’s row, per se. I find that they’re looking at this as more of a long-term strategic investment.”

Senior Staff Writer
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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