Answers · money-cast fact sheets
Florida wealth questions
Common search and LLM questions answered only with facts already in Old Florida Money stories. Each answer cites its story URL. No generic civic FAQ.
What did Tampa City Council decide about bonds for the Rays stadium on Oct. 15, 2026?
On Oct. 15, 2026, Tampa City Council deadlocked 3-3 on a resolution to start a court proceeding to validate up to $80 million in bonds for the city’s share of the Rays ballpark; council member Bill Carlson, absent with a stomach bug, then joined virtually and it passed 4-3, with Lynn Hurtak, Charlie Miranda and Guido Maniscalco voting no (Tampa Bay Times; Florida Politics). The vote does not authorize any bonds; issuing them takes a separate council vote. The city attorney says Tampa is obligated for the $80 million either way, paid in four $20 million installments starting Jan. 1, 2027 (Florida Politics; Development and Funding Agreement).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/rays-zalupski-stadco-hillsborough-796m
What is Palm Beach County’s convention hotel deal with Stephen Ross’s Related Ross?
On Sept. 29, 2026, Palm Beach County commissioners voted 6-1 to buy about 1.8 acres at 940 South Rosemary Avenue in West Palm Beach and the 400-room hotel to be built on it from a Related Ross affiliate for $26 million from general fund reserves, then lease them back for up to 97 years (county agenda; WPTV; The Real Deal). The sale-leaseback lets the developer avoid property taxes, The Real Deal reports, and the county’s consultant values that at about $2.5 million a year; the county collects about $1.825 million a year in initial rent, rising 3% a year (county agenda and backup). Two neighborhood groups sued Oct. 14 asking a judge to declare the vote void over short notice and to bar the county from carrying out the deal until a properly noticed new vote (complaint; WPTV). At the Sept. 29 meeting the county attorney said the law requires only 24 hours’ notice; as of Oct. 18 no hearing or ruling had been reported (WPTV; complaint).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/stephen-ross-west-palm-hotel-26m-no-property-tax
Which Palm Beach properties did former federal official David Rush buy with government money?
David J. Rush pleaded guilty on Oct. 6, 2026, to defrauding the federal government of about $194 million, and admitted that a classified program he invented to buy South Florida real estate was fake (Justice Department; Statement of Facts). By the court’s approximate table, the money bought houses at 236 Via Las Brisas ($21.9M) and 311 Polmer Park Rd. ($27M) and a lot at 243 Seaspray Ave. ($13.65M) in Palm Beach, and a $40M lot at 511 South Beach Road on Jupiter Island, $102.55M in all (our sum). His plea agreement forfeits each property or cash in its place. The Real Deal and USA TODAY / Palm Beach Daily News report all four are listed for sale, two under contract.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/ex-cia-official-palm-beach-homes-for-sale
Does Florida’s Amendment 3 lower school property taxes?
No. The state Revenue Estimating Conference scores Amendment 3’s effect on school taxes at 0.0 in every county and every year: the new homestead exemption, $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, applies only to non-school taxes, and the first $25,000 exemption applies to school value (Florida EDR, July 10, 2026). Counties, cities and special districts lose $4.93 billion in fiscal 2027-28 and $11.8 billion a year once it is fully in place. On the same Nov. 3, 2026 ballot, at least 13 school boards, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange and Duval, ask voters to keep or add a 1 mill school tax; Miami-Dade’s renewal is estimated at about $585 million a year (school board records).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/amendment-3-school-tax-13-districts
Why are Millrose Properties shareholders suing?
Leon and Sylvia Rubenstein filed a securities class action, Rubenstein v. Millrose Properties, No. 9:26-cv-81386 (S.D. Fla.), on Oct. 9, 2026, against Millrose, the Miami land bank Lennar spun off in 2025, and two executives. It says Millrose misled investors after telling them it would have no tenants, relying on Hunterbrook Media’s report that Millrose bought more than 700 Lennar homes, an estimated $200 million or more, in about a month; Hunterbrook’s investment arm was short both companies’ stock. These are allegations. Lennar and Stuart Miller are not defendants (complaint; Hunterbrook Media).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/lennar-millrose-200m-home-sales-suit
Who pays if Hurricane Isaias brings large insured losses to Florida?
Losses are paid in layers: the homeowner's deductible first, then the insurer up to its retention, then reinsurers and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. Citizens Property Insurance has 9,052 policies and $3.56 billion of exposure in eight Panhandle coastal counties from Escambia to Wakulla (Citizens' Aug. 31 table; our sums). If Citizens ran short, it could surcharge its own policyholders up to 15% of premium, then levy emergency assessments on nearly every property and casualty policy in Florida, auto included; Citizens says its 2026 reinsurance lets it pay claims after a 1-in-360-year hurricane without assessments. Isaias made landfall near Destin on Oct. 9 as a 105 mph Category 2 (NHC). Catastrophe modelers put the industry insured loss for the whole landfall, not Florida alone, at $1 billion to $2 billion onshore (Verisk), $2 billion to $3 billion (Cotality) and $2.5 billion to $4.5 billion, best estimate $3.5 billion (Moody’s RMS), and Escambia County puts its own repair damage at about $64 million (Escambia County). On Oct. 16 Florida asked for a major disaster declaration covering 15 Panhandle counties; FEMA’s data showed no approval on Oct. 18 (Executive Office of the Governor; OpenFEMA).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/isaias-pensacola-destin-citizens-3-56b-who-pays
When does the Florida hurricane deductible apply for Isaias?
Under s. 627.4025, a hurricane's duration in Florida begins when the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning for any part of the state, which it did at 11 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 7 (NHC Advisory 6), and ends 72 hours after the last Florida hurricane watch or warning ends. The last Florida hurricane warning ended at 2 a.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 10 (NHC Advisory 14A), so the Isaias hurricane period closed at 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 13 (our arithmetic). A 2%, 5% or 10% hurricane deductible means you pay the first $2,000, $5,000 or $10,000 of each $100,000 of dwelling coverage, once for all hurricane losses in the calendar year (s. 627.701; our arithmetic).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/isaias-pensacola-destin-citizens-3-56b-who-pays
Who is paying for Florida’s 2026 governor’s race?
From Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, 2026, Friends of Byron Donalds PAC, the committee behind the Republican nominee, took 16 checks of $100,000 or more, $3,575,000 in all, including $500,000 each from GOPAC Election Fund and United Group Underwriters LLC, a Miami Gardens auto-insurance managing agency, and $250,000 from the United States Sugar Corporation PAC (Division of Elections; our sum). Florida 2026, the committee backing Democrat David Jolly, took $1,450,000 in four checks of $100,000 or more from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, including $1,000,000 from Manalapan’s Henry Laufer. Taxpayers pay too: through the Oct. 9 distribution the state’s matching program has paid $2,582,111.80 to Jolly and $1,075,371.01 to Donalds, and the Oct. 9 distribution alone sent Jolly $241,431.51 and Donalds $38,888.16 (Florida Department of State).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/donalds-pac-big-sugar-gopac-jolly-match
How does Florida’s public matching money for statewide candidates work?
The state matches the first $250 from each Florida resident who gives to a qualifying statewide candidate’s campaign account after Sept. 1 of the year before the election; aggregate contributions above $250 are matched only up to $250, and checks from business accounts do not count (s. 106.35). Contributions that make up the qualifying threshold, $150,000 for governor, are matched two to one, the rest one to one (ss. 106.33, 106.35). Money given to political committees is not matched. If the program runs short in a governor’s election year, the statute directs a transfer from state general revenue (s. 106.32). Through the Oct. 16, 2026 distribution the program has paid $4,745,365.41 this cycle (Florida Department of State).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/donalds-pac-big-sugar-gopac-jolly-match
What did Ken Griffin buy in Wynwood, and how does it relate to Carnegie Mellon?
Moishe Mana closed the sale of about 30 acres in Wynwood to Ken Griffin for $1.1 billion on Sept. 29, 2026, per Fox Business, Commercial Property Executive and Commercial Observer; the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s record showed no sale of the main parcel after 2010 as of Oct. 12. Griffin is giving Carnegie Mellon more than $3 billion: $2 billion for a Wynwood campus, which includes the value of the land, and $1 billion for Pittsburgh (AP; CMU; Refresh Miami). If the deed records $1.1 billion, Miami-Dade documentary stamp tax and surtax would total $11.55 million (Florida Department of Revenue; our arithmetic).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/ken-griffin-wynwood-1-1b-carnegie-mellon-ledger
Why is the Seminole Tribe suing DraftKings?
On Oct. 8, 2026, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which runs Hard Rock Bet, sued DraftKings, Inc., CEO Jason Robins and GUS III LLC (DraftKings Predictions) in Broward County circuit court. The 72-page complaint alleges that DraftKings' Florida app is an illegal sportsbook with no license that pays the state nothing on the bets it takes, and accuses Robins alone of racketeering; these are allegations, not findings. Under the 2021 compact the Tribe holds the sole right to take sports bets and pays the State 13.75% of sports-betting net win; its compact payments from all Florida games came to $1.04 billion in fiscal 2025-26 (Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research). DraftKings says its prediction markets follow federal law and Pick6 is not sports betting.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/draftkings-robins-seminole-hard-rock-compact-1b
What did the appeals court decide about the Hope Florida grand jury report?
On Oct. 7, 2026, the 1st District Court of Appeal ordered the Leon County grand jury report on the Hope Florida money expunged in its entirety; the opinion is not final until any timely rehearing motion is resolved. In a footnote the court wrote that the $10 million Centene paid the Hope Florida Foundation out of its $67,048,611 settlement was never public money. Hope Florida granted $5 million each to Secure Florida's Future and Save Our Society From Drugs, which gave $8.5 million in October 2024 to Keep Florida Clean, a now-closed committee whose chairperson of record is Attorney General James Uthmeier (Division of Elections; our sums). The Florida Trib counts more than $444,000 in public money paid to three private law firms hired to represent state officials in the grand jury fight; the state’s contract records name no clients (Florida Trib; Florida Department of Financial Services). The ruling is open to a rehearing motion through Oct. 22.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/uthmeier-hope-florida-10m-report-expunged
Is Brightline bankrupt, and are the trains still running?
Seventeen Fortress-backed Brightline parent companies, FIHPNP LLC and 16 affiliates, filed Chapter 11 in New Jersey on Sept. 24, 2026, over about $2.5 billion of holding-company debt (No. 26-20876). The operating company, Brightline Trains Florida, did not file, and trains between South Florida and Orlando kept running. Judge Mark Edward Hall approved up to $257.7 million of financing on an interim basis, $190 million available on the interim order; the final hearing is Oct. 29. The restructuring contemplates about $490 million of new long-term capital from bond insurer Assured Guaranty and a mutual-fund group, and keeps muni bond principal in place but calls for deferred interest payments (court filings; The Bond Buyer).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/brightline-bankruptcy-490m-assured-muni-funds
What happened to the Hillsborough sales-tax hearing on the Rays ballpark?
The public hearing that must come before $360,000,000 of Hillsborough's half-cent sales tax, the Community Investment Tax, can go to the Rays' new ballpark had been expected Oct. 21. On Oct. 7 commissioners voted 5-1 to move it to an evening session in east Hillsborough; on Oct. 13 they voted 5-2 to hold it instead at the regular Nov. 10 meeting, a week after the Nov. 3 election, with Joshua Wostal and Donna Cameron Cepeda voting no (Tampa Bay Times; Hillsborough County). The county attorney says the bond-validation vote cannot be scheduled until that hearing and an amendment to the tourist development tax plan are done. The county wants to pay a first $90,000,000 installment this year.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/rays-zalupski-stadco-hillsborough-796m
What did Florida pay for the Norriego Point land in Destin, and who sold it?
On Sept. 30, 2025, the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund took up an option to buy about 4 acres in Okaloosa County from Pointe Mezzanine, LLC and Pointe Resort, LLC for $83,326,520, or $20,831,630 an acre; the sellers paid $7,901,214 in 2016 and 2017 (DEP agenda). Both companies are registered to Robert J. Guidry. Both appraisals were done for the seller. The state closed on Dec. 11, 2025. Division of Elections records show eight checks of $5,000 or more from his companies' Harvey, La., address since Jan. 1, 2024, totaling $350,000, two of them to the committee of Attorney General James Uthmeier, who sits by law on the trustees' board.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/destin-83m-guidry-350k-checks
What did the Florida Cabinet approve for conservation easements on Sept. 29, 2026?
Sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the Governor and Cabinet approved the conservation of more than 10,770 acres, an investment of more than $72.6M, the state says (DEP). The trustees are buying development rights while the owners keep their land. The package includes $6,520,000 for about 1,034.88 acres of Limestone Creek in Hardee County, a ranch formerly owned by Gov. Doyle E. Carlton. Our arithmetic on the state's figures: about $6,700 an acre.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/trustees-72-6m-easements-carlton-ranch
Who is paying for and against Florida's Amendment 3 property-tax measure?
Two Realtor groups account for all but $10.33 of Vote Yes on 3’s $21,516,510.33 in receipts: Florida Realtors gave seven checks totaling $19,500,000 from Sept. 3 to Sept. 30, 2026, and the National Association of Realtors gave $2,016,500 on Oct. 9 (Division of Elections, read Oct. 22). Through Oct. 28, Vote Yes on 3 had spent $21,112,079.54, $20,687,240 of it in 17 payments to SGS Inc. of Gainesville, about 98% (Division of Elections, read Nov. 1; our sums). The three committees against it, Floridians for Shared Prosperity, Vote No on 3 Florida and No On 3. Protect Our Homes, which CubaHeadlines reports Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava formed, had raised $1,772,916.68 and spent $1,616,448.68 together through their newest reports, dated Oct. 22 to Oct. 29 (our sums). The amendment needs 60 percent to pass on Nov. 3.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/amendment-3-realtors-campaign-21-million-spent
Who are the richest people living in Florida on the Forbes 400?
Forbes ranks Jeff Bezos Florida’s richest at about $378B, No. 2 in the country, and Jaguars owner Shahid Khan about $16.5B (Florida #8 / No. 70) (Action News Jax). Using Forbes data as of Sept. 21, Stacker ranks Larry Ellison ($193.5B), Thomas Peterffy, Ken Griffin, David Tepper and Stephen Ross among the rest of Florida’s top eight (Action News Jax / Stacker). OFM does not publish its own wealth ranking.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/bezos-forbes-florida-residency-gravity
Why does Florida residency matter for billionaire money and politics?
Residency gravity concentrates trophy-house demand, franchise ownership, and statewide PAC checkbooks in the same named cast. OFM ties Bezos’s Florida base to the donor-and-buyer class that also shows up in Manalapan assembles and Donalds PAC patronage (Griffin’s $10M).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/bezos-forbes-florida-residency-gravity
How much public money is Hillsborough putting into the Rays stadium deal?
Local public money is $876M: about $796M from Hillsborough and $80M from Tampa (WUSF), against a Rays commitment Sports Business Journal put at $1.37B plus overruns, on a ballpark budgeted at $2.361B. Hillsborough’s vehicles include the Community Investment Tax, tourist-tax bonds and reserves, other county cash, and disaster-recovery stormwater money. CEO Ken Babby has said not a penny of city or county money moves until a Community Benefits Agreement is negotiated.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/rays-zalupski-stadco-hillsborough-796m
Who owns the Tampa Bay Rays deal stack on the private side?
Patrick Zalupski is managing partner, co-chair, and MLB control person; Bill Cosgrove is co-chair; Ken Babby is CEO and the public face; Stuart Sternberg sold control and kept a 10% stake. The private vehicle is Florida Baseball Partners, LLC, which guarantees the stadium company, Tampa Bay Rays Stadium Company, LLC (StadCo).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/rays-zalupski-stadco-hillsborough-796m
What is Larry Ellison assembling in Manalapan?
Ellison paid an MLS-reported $34.4M for the southern 2.15 acres at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd, taking his south-end Manalapan holdings past 24 acres beside the estate and island parcel he bought together for a recorded $173M in June 2022. WeatherTech’s David MacNeil took the northern slice for $32M; together they paid about $66.4M on reported figures, by our sum. On July 14, 2026, Manalapan commissioners agreed to waive building codes so Ellison could have a fourth tunnel under A1A and make other improvements. Up the coast, he is asking a North Palm Beach record $165M for his Seminole Landing estate, which he bought for $80M in 2021.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/ellison-manalapan-assemble-macneil-lot
How much did Ken Griffin give to Byron Donalds’s PAC, and how big is the war chest?
Florida Politics reported Oct. 17 that Donalds has raised more than $146 million this cycle and spent more than $110 million. Friends of Byron Donalds PAC’s Division of Elections ledger sums to $131,002,774.70 received and $99,648,955.68 spent through Oct. 9, including $35,005,621.21 to the Republican Party of Florida in 11 payments, $24,000,000 of it in September and $4,000,000 on Oct. 5 (our sums, re-read Oct. 18). Ken Griffin (Citadel) wrote $10M on July 17, 2026. Sports betting has given $2.25M, including $1.25M from the Sports Betting Alliance. Polls reported Oct. 13 run from Donalds ahead 52-41 (Stetson) to a 47-47 tie (Change Research, Oct. 8 to 10) (Stetson University; Newsweek).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/donalds-pac-griffin-sports-betting-war-chest
What are the Buccaneers asking for at Raymond James, and how does it relate to the Rays?
The Glazer-family Buccaneers have floated paying one-third of a roughly $1B Raymond James renovation, with the public covering two-thirds; nothing is signed, and their renewal notice is due Jan. 31, 2027. Separately, the Tampa Sports Authority’s FY2027-2028 budget, approved 10-0, carries about $76.6M of capital projects and requests $73.14M in capital subsidies, paid from the fourth-cent tourist tax rather than the Community Investment Tax. The same authority now reviews the Rays’ ballpark design.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/bucs-raymond-james-tax-well
Who is ahead on cash in the St. Petersburg mayor race money cast?
As of Oct. 2, Charlie Crist had nearly $411,000 between his campaign and his committee, St. Pete Shines, against just over $41,000 for Mayor Ken Welch (Florida Politics; City Clerk G-4 reports). For Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, Crist’s side raised $99,300 by our arithmetic and Welch’s $9,650. St. Pete Shines, chaired by Michelle Todd Schorsch, who is married to the Florida Politics publisher, has paid All Too Strategic $488,189.41 and Extensive Enterprises $274,797.05 through Oct. 9, both listed at the address Florida Politics gives for itself; these are payments, not profits. In the week to Oct. 9, Shines raised $81,500 and Welch’s committee raised nothing (Division of Elections; Florida Politics).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/crist-welch-stpete-war-chest
Did GEO Group sell its Adelanto detention complex to ICE?
Yes. On Oct. 2, 2026, The GEO Group of Boca Raton and a subsidiary sold the U.S. government, through the Department of Homeland Security, the 1,280-bed Adelanto West and 660-bed Adelanto East ICE Processing Centers and the 704-bed Desert View Annex in Adelanto, Calif., for $950,000,000, closing the day the agreement was signed (GEO 8-K). GEO expects about $705 million after taxes and fees, keeps running the sites under its existing ICE contract, announced that its board had approved raising its stock buyback authorization to $1.25 billion, set about $678 million to redeem its 8.625% notes, and says it is in an active process to sell ICE other company-owned facilities, without naming them (GEO; Commercial Observer; Bisnow). Under the agreement the federal buyer pays no state or local real estate tax.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/geo-group-boca-adelanto-ice-950m
What is the NextEra “Robo Memo,” and who can read it?
It is a 2021 document, titled in the Virginia record “Florida Power & Light Officers’ Potentially Unlawful Conduct Through Third-Party Consultants and Vendors - Confidential,” allegedly sent to then-NextEra Chairman James Robo by a consulting firm, Matrix, LLC. NextEra says its investigation found no credible evidence of illegal conduct and no employee has been charged. In the Virginia review of NextEra’s $67 billion merger with Dominion, a hearing examiner ordered it produced on Oct. 2, 2026, and on Oct. 8 limited review by commission staff and respondents bound by confidentiality to in-person reading at the companies’ attorneys’ offices, outside the case’s electronic system; the ruling does not decide whether the allegations are true (Virginia SCC; The Center Square).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/fpl-nextera-robo-memo-virginia-eyes-only
Did GEO Group give Byron Donalds’ PAC money after selling its Adelanto detention complex to the federal government?
Yes. The Division of Elections records a $1,000,000 check from The GEO Group Inc. of Boca Raton to Friends of Byron Donalds PAC dated Oct. 8, 2026, six days after GEO signed and closed the $950 million sale of its Adelanto, Calif., ICE complex to the United States through the Department of Homeland Security (Division of Elections; Florida Politics; GEO 8-K). It is GEO’s fourth check to the committee, $3.5 million since Dec. 30, 2025 (our sum). No record ties any check to the sale, a state contract or a vote.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/byron-donalds-geo-group-1m-after-950m-ice-sale
Who is spending outside money in Florida’s 2026 U.S. Senate race between Ashley Moody and Angie Nixon?
Federal filings show New Deal for All, a new group The New York Times reports is backed by Florida lawyer Steve Pajcic and his children, spent $3,096,631.18 against Sen. Ashley Moody on Oct. 14 and 16 (FEC; The New York Times). Stronger Safer Nation, a super PAC that Reuters and the Tampa Bay Times say Ken Griffin gave $2.5 million, has spent $7,649,044.75 against Democrat Angie Nixon and $1,664,822.25 for Moody through Oct. 8, by our sums of its FEC rows (FEC; Reuters; Tampa Bay Times).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/moody-nixon-griffin-pajcic-super-pac-ad-war
What is Miami’s Referendum 3 on the Virginia Key marinas?
On the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot, City of Miami voters decide whether to lease about 27.62 acres of city waterfront on Virginia Key, the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas, to Virginia Key, LLC, a 50-50 partnership of RCI Group and Suntex Marinas, for 45 years with two 15-year renewals, at a minimum $2.2 million a year in rent with escalations, about $203.98 million over the first term, plus 6% of gross revenues (City of Miami; WLRN). The renewals are the tenant’s option (lease Section 3.2). The lease exists only if voters approve it. Through Oct. 29, Suntex Marina Investors LLC had put $3,833,026 into the Yes committee, counting a $275,000 loan, and the incumbent Rickenbacker Marina Corp $1,787,500 into the No, by our sums of city filings.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/virginia-key-marina-lease-suntex-plans-can-change
What is the record home sale on Miami’s Venetian Islands?
The Real Deal and Mansion Global report a $48.5 million sale of a new spec house at 1413 North Venetian Way on San Marco Island, in the city of Miami, closed Oct. 7, 2026 per the MLS record, a record for the Venetian Islands above a $46 million 2025 sale on San Marino Island (The Real Deal; Haute Residence). The sellers, Jacek and Olga Skarzynski, paid $5.95 million for the lot in 2021 (Miami-Dade Property Appraiser). The buyer of record is a trust; The Real Deal’s unnamed sources say it is General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja. The deed had not posted to the appraiser as of Oct. 18.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/venetian-islands-record-48-5m-san-marco-sale
Did Florida sign the states’ brief asking the Supreme Court to hear New Jersey’s Kalshi case?
No. On Oct. 7, Ohio, 38 other states and the District of Columbia asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear New Jersey’s appeal in Flaherty v. KalshiEX, No. 26-299, the fight over whether states can apply their sports-gambling laws to Kalshi’s sports contracts. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier did not sign; Florida was one of ten states that stayed off, Next Event Horizon reported (amici brief; Supreme Court docket; Next Event Horizon). James Uthmeier’s office declined to explain, Politico reported. Kalshi’s response is now due Nov. 9 (Supreme Court docket).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/uthmeier-kalshi-supreme-court-brief-seminole-compact
What Coconut Grove property is Larry Page reported to have bought?
Miami-Dade property records show four warranty deeds dated Dec. 26 to 29, 2025 that moved five Coconut Grove waterfront parcels, $127.9 million in all by our sum, to two revocable trusts; Page’s name is on none of the records. The Wall Street Journal, as Fortune and Fox Business relayed it, and Business Insider report that Google billionaire Larry Page bought Coconut Grove estates, among them a $71.9 million bayfront estate whose deed is dated Dec. 26, 2025 and paid $431,400 in state documentary stamps; no outlet we read ties the other deeds to him (Miami-Dade Property Appraiser; Fortune; Fox Business; Business Insider). Separately, Californians vote Nov. 3 on Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on billionaires’ net worth (Prop 40 text).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/larry-page-coconut-grove-deeds-prop-40
What is being built on the Bay Garden Manor condo site at 1250 West Ave. in Miami Beach?
Bay Garden Manor, a 15-story condominium built in 1964 on Miami Beach’s bay side, holds 238 homes; county records show 146 separate deeds moved 216 of them to a developer company, 1250 West Ave Owner LLC, from May 2024 to September 2025 (Miami-Dade Property Appraiser). On Oct. 8 Commercial Observer reported that the Terra-led partnership planning a 28-story, 106-unit tower on the site had landed a $507 million construction loan from Tyko Capital before selling a single new condo. The partners are Terra, led by David Martin; Rafi Gibly’s RG Development Group; GV Development, the firm of Italian influencer Gianluca Vacchi; and Lore Development Group (Commercial Observer; Bisnow; REBusinessOnline).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/vacchi-south-beach-condo-507m-loan
How much Orange County hotel-tax money did the Dr. Phillips Center get?
$350 million. Orange County commissioners voted 6-1 on Oct. 19 to commit tourist-tax money to 13 projects, the largest $350 million for downtown Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts; Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad cast the only no vote. The center first asked for $750 million and Mayor Jerry Demings recommended $400 million, the Orlando Sentinel reported (Orange County agenda; Orlando Sentinel; Florida Politics; Central Florida Public Media). The money comes from a 6% tax on hotel stays and short-term rentals, not property tax, and the $350 million alone is about 91% of the $384.6 million the tax brought in for fiscal 2025 (Florida Politics; WKMG; our arithmetic).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/dr-phillips-center-350m-orange-hotel-tax
Which Florida utility regulators went to the West Palm Beach retreat, and what does their commission decide next?
In July, Florida Public Service Commissioners Mike La Rosa and Bobby Payne attended a private retreat at the Ben Hotel in West Palm Beach with representatives of the industry they regulate, the Tampa Bay Times reported Oct. 13, citing public records; the hosts, a nonprofit called the Regulators Roundtable Institute, picked up the commissioners’ travel costs, the Times reported. The commission says no regulated utility paid. Its docket, revised Oct. 20, schedules Nov. 3 as the conference at which it takes up Duke Energy Florida’s proposed terms for serving data centers and other large power users; no rate is at issue (Tampa Bay Times; Florida Public Service Commission).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/psc-west-palm-retreat-duke-data-center-vote
Why is Brookfield’s Pembroke Lakes Mall in foreclosure?
Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., acting for the bondholders of a commercial mortgage-backed securities trust, has sued in Broward County Circuit Court to foreclose on Pembroke Lakes Mall in Pembroke Pines, saying the borrower, Pembroke Lakes Mall LLC, failed to repay its $260 million loan at its March 2025 maturity. An appraisal dated April 17, 2026 values the mall at $112 million, down 73.8% from the $427 million appraised when the loan closed in 2013, KBRA says (Bisnow; The Real Deal; KBRA). The suit asks the court to appoint a receiver (Connect CRE; Bisnow; The Real Deal).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/brookfield-pembroke-lakes-mall-427m-to-112m-foreclosure
Will Brightline’s junior Tampa bondholders get their principal back?
Brightline says about $1.2 billion of junior bonds tied to its planned Tampa extension will stay outstanding with no cut in principal, yet First Eagle, one of the funds behind the deal, valued the ones its high-yield fund held at 28 cents on the dollar on July 31, and trades on Oct. 5 printed near 5 cents (interim financing order; The Bond Buyer; SEC EDGAR). Their borrower, AAF Operations Holdings LLC, is not in bankruptcy (first-day declaration). Objections to the financing in Brightline’s Chapter 11 case are due Oct. 22, and the final hearing is Oct. 29 (interim financing order).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/brightline-tampa-bonds-no-haircut-first-eagle
How much of Optima Classical Academy’s money does its budget list as due to Erika Donalds’s company?
Nearly all of it. The online charter school’s 2026-27 budget, marked “Amendment 1 9/8/26,” lists $15,719,881 as “Due to Virtual Instruction Provider (OptimaEd)” out of total income of $16,095,715; that is the year’s plan, not a record of payments. OptimaEd is the Naples company of Erika Donalds, whose husband, Byron Donalds, is the Republican candidate for governor. The state budget supplies about $9.7 million of the school’s money, local property taxes about $4.1 million and a Collier County school referendum about $2.1 million. Revenue is not profit, and no wrongdoing is alleged. Byron Donalds told the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald that if elected he would follow legal guidance and all ethics requirements, including recusal; Erika Donalds told the papers her businesses do not contract with the State of Florida.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/byron-donalds-optimaed-15-7m-charter-school-money
Have the Rays’ owners given to the Hillsborough commissioners who vote on the ballpark sales tax?
Yes, Axios reports: the Tampa Bay Rays’ owners and their companies have given at least $140,000 combined to three Hillsborough County commissioners up for reelection Nov. 3, Gwen Myers, Harry Cohen and Joshua Wostal, since the team’s sale. The commission votes Nov. 10 on whether $360 million of Hillsborough’s half-cent sales tax goes to the team’s new Tampa ballpark. Myers and Cohen voted for the ballpark deal in August and Wostal voted against it, the Business Observer reported. No record ties any gift to a vote.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/rays-owners-hillsborough-stadium-tax-campaign-money
How will Senate President Ben Albritton vote on Amendment 3?
No. Albritton, whose Senate voted 30-9 on June 2 to put the property tax cut on the ballot and who voted yes then, said Oct. 20 he will vote no; he says it “would eliminate up to 30% of resources for Florida’s rural counties.” Since September, Florida Realtors and the national Realtors association have given the yes campaign about $21.5 million, state records show. Amendment 3 needs 60% of the vote on Nov. 3. No record ties the Realtor money to Albritton’s position or to any vote.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/albritton-no-amendment-3-realtors-21-million
Why did Jay Newman and Five Park’s owners sue Miami Beach?
Over a public footbridge over the MacArthur Causeway that the developers of Five Park, Miami Beach’s tallest condo tower, agreed to build and never finished. Newman, a hedge fund veteran of Paul Singer’s Elliott, and the tower’s owners’ association sued the city and the developers in federal court in Miami on Oct. 13, asking a judge to order the bridge built; the city’s cost was capped at about $9.6 million of a roughly $12.5 million budget. The developers say buried power lines make the bridge unsafe to build as designed. The suit’s claims are allegations; no court has ruled.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/jay-newman-sues-miami-beach-five-park-bridge-9-6m
Who is foreclosing on Boca Raton’s unfinished Mandarin Oriental tower, and for how much?
Via Mizner Lender 1, a lending company in the same corporate family as New York lender Madison Realty Capital, sued in Palm Beach County circuit court seeking $417.7 million to repay a $270 million loan from August 2023, plus interest, advances and fees, The Coastal Star reports. Buyers of at least 20 condos want their deposits back, The New York Times reports. Two Penn-Florida companies, the developer led by Mark Gensheimer, sued the lender in New York state court for more than $500 million, saying Madison “created the defaults” it is using to foreclose, The Real Deal reports. Every claim in both suits is an allegation, not a finding.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/boca-raton-mandarin-oriental-418m-foreclosure
Did Kalshi and the Seminole Tribe both pay Byron Donalds’s PAC?
Yes. Friends of Byron Donalds PAC got $500,000 from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and $250,000 from Kalshi, a New York company where people wager money on who wins elections, both dated Oct. 13, state campaign finance records and the PAC’s own list of donations show. Donalds is the Republican candidate for governor in the Nov. 3 election. The two givers are on opposite sides of a Supreme Court fight: on Oct. 8, 145 tribes and tribal groups, the Seminole Tribe among them, asked the Supreme Court to take New Jersey’s case against Kalshi and decide it this term. Neither is the committee’s biggest check since Oct. 9; Miami hedge fund executive Ken Griffin gave $5 million on Oct. 15. Political contributions are legal and disclosed, and no wrongdoing is alleged. No record ties either check to any vote, contract or other act by a public official. Kalshi, the tribe and the Donalds campaign did not address these checks in anything we read.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/byron-donalds-pac-kalshi-seminole-tribe-same-day
Are Brightline’s trains still running while its parent companies are in bankruptcy, and what happens Oct. 29?
Yes. Brightline’s parent companies filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey on Sept. 24, but the company that runs the Miami-to-Orlando trains, Brightline Trains Florida, is not in bankruptcy, and the trains keep running. On Sept. 29 the judge approved, for now, a rescue loan of up to about $258 million for that train company; the written order, filed Oct. 1, made $190 million available at once. The final hearing on the rescue loan is Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. About $4.4 billion of muni bonds sit behind the line; the deal leaves their principal untouched but delays their interest payments, The Bond Buyer reports (court filings; The Bond Buyer).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/brightline-bankruptcy-trains-run-258m-rescue-oct-29
What does Miami’s Virginia Key marina lease on the Nov. 3 ballot say about the developer’s plans?
That they will change. Section 5.2 reads: “The parties acknowledge that the Conceptual Plan will change from time to time based upon requirements in connection with the design and permitting process.” By our reading, the lease never uses the word baywalk, for the public waterfront walkway the developers call their biggest public amenity. It runs up to 75 years and pays the city at least $2.2 million a year, plus 6% of most of what the tenant takes in. The would-be tenant, Virginia Key LLC, is a 50-50 partnership of Connecticut-based RCI Group and Texas-based Suntex Marinas, WLRN reports; since July, Suntex has put $2.35 million into the Yes campaign and Rickenbacker Marina Corp, the current operator, $1.1 million into the No, city filings show. The lease takes effect only if a majority of Miami voters approve it Nov. 3.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/virginia-key-marina-lease-suntex-plans-can-change
Who is Lenir Pérez, and what did he give Rep. María Elvira Salazar’s committees?
Lenir Pérez is a Central American industrialist with a $10 million equestrian estate in Wellington, the Miami Herald reports, and a businessman charged in Honduras over a mine in a national park. Federal Election Commission filings show one $100,000 check from him, dated May 5, 2026, to the Salazar Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee. By our arithmetic, $7,000 went to her campaign, $5,000 to Freedom Force PAC, the leadership committee she leads, and $88,000 to the NRCC, House Republicans’ campaign committee. Salazar, a Miami Republican who faces voters Nov. 3, has made no public statement about Pérez or his money, WLRN reports; her Democratic rival, Eliott Rodriguez, wants the money returned. Pérez is accused, not convicted, and maintains his innocence, the Herald reports. No record ties his money to anything Salazar did.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/salazar-donor-honduras-100000
How much did Miami Beach cut Art Basel’s convention center rent?
Nearly half. Miami Beach commissioners voted Oct. 14 on a deal that sets the 2026 base license fee at $500,000, “a $454,585 reduction in the current year license fee,” the city manager’s memo says, and keeps the fair through 2031. The city will also put $300,000 a year toward police, fire and emergency medical services during Art Week. Eric Carpenter, the city manager who negotiated the deal, puts the city’s cost at about $650,000 a year, from the convention center’s own fund, not the general fund that pays for city services, city officials say. Norman Braman, the billionaire auto dealer widely credited with bringing the fair to Miami Beach, told commissioners: “It’s not up to taxpayers to subsidize private enterprise.” The commission approved the agreements in substantial form; the final license agreement has not been posted.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/norman-braman-art-basel-miami-beach-rent-cut-500k
What did Florida regulators’ staff recommend on Duke Energy Florida’s data center plan?
Deny it as filed. The Florida Public Service Commission’s staff recommended on Oct. 22 that the commission deny Duke Energy Florida’s proposed terms for serving data centers and other giant power users, with leave to refile. A new state law says such users must pay their full cost. Staff found the terms leave out customers who meet the law’s definition of a large user but do not ask for firm service, and that Duke has not adequately shown its rates and proposed protections “reasonably ensure” each large user bears its own full cost. No rates are at issue in this case. A staff recommendation is not a ruling: the five commissioners take it up Nov. 3, and the written order is due Nov. 23 (Florida Public Service Commission staff recommendation, docket 20260064-EI).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/duke-energy-data-center-plan-staff-says-deny
Why did Florida’s attorney general sue First Street over home flood scores?
On Oct. 23, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued First Street, a New York-based company whose flood and fire scores have appeared on home listings. The suit says the scores call some homes major flood risks where FEMA, the federal agency whose maps mark flood zones, sees minimal hazard. For anyone selling a Florida home, the state says a high score makes it sell slower and for less. The state’s lawsuit says the data also reaches Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big mortgage buyers, and Allstate’s app. The suit says MSCI bought First Street for $120 million in August. First Street had not commented on the suit as of Oct. 27. Every claim about the scores is the State of Florida’s allegation; no court has ruled. The state wants a jury trial in Polk County circuit court.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/uthmeier-sues-first-street-home-flood-scores
Is Stephen Ross’s Miami International Airport hotel lease still in effect?
Miami-Dade's aviation director told commissioners Oct. 6 the county was moving to end the lease held by Stephen Ross's and Jeffrey Soffer's venture for a Westin at Miami International Airport. Ten days later, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wrote that the lease remains in effect, and that the airport is considering adding part of its Taxi Lot, subject to Federal Aviation Administration review. The county projected $240 million in rent over the lease's 50 years. The developers hope to recover their costs, the newspaper Miami Today reports, and no record says which lease clause would govern a payment.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/stephen-ross-mia-airport-hotel-240m-lease
Why is Miami-Dade’s sheriff ending the bodyguard detail for the mayor and commissioners?
Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told the mayor and the 13 county commissioners Oct. 22 that their deputy drivers and bodyguards end Nov. 9. She says the detail costs taxpayers about $4.1 million a year, money that will help cover a budget her office says falls $42 million short; she is appealing to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet, who rule on a sheriff's appeal of a county budget. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who still runs the county jails, called the short notice "a significant security challenge" and plans to move jail officers into the job, the Miami Herald reports.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/miami-dade-sheriff-cordero-stutz-4-million-commissioner-bodyguards
Why are Fisher Island Club members suing the island’s own association?
Three Fisher Island Club members sued the Fisher Island Community Association in federal court Oct. 22, saying it has no right to bill members who own no home there a yearly fee for transportation and security. The suit says the fee rose from about $13,000 in 2022 to about $64,500 for 2026, and it seeks refunds for members billed since 2022. Jim Ferraro, an association board member, called the federal filing "a joke." No court has decided the claims.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/fisher-island-club-members-sue-association-over-64k-fee
Has Palm Beach’s ‘Ham and Cheese House’ sold?
Not yet. Palm Beach’s striped oceanfront “Ham and Cheese House” went under contract Oct. 20 with an unnamed buyer, at an asking price of $105 million. That means a signed deal to buy, not a closed sale. The buyer and the final price are not public. Penny Antonini, the seller, and her late husband, Marion, paid about $16 million for it in 2013, county records show.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/palm-beach-ham-and-cheese-house-105m-ask-contract
What did Larry Page reportedly pay for a Coconut Grove bayfront estate?
Google co-founder Larry Page paid $71.9 million for a Coconut Grove bayfront estate, The Wall Street Journal reported. County records show a trust bought it for $71.9 million on Dec. 26, 2025; they do not name Page, but the price and timing match the Journal’s report. That is about 57% more than the estate sold for in 2021, and Miami-Dade now figures its school property tax on a value of about $56.1 million, up about $13.3 million in one year, by our arithmetic from county records. Separately, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, California votes on a one-time 5% tax on its billionaires’ wealth, a tax Florida does not have; a UC Berkeley poll released Oct. 29 found 42% of likely voters for it and 50% against, the Los Angeles Times and The Mercury News reported.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/larry-page-coconut-grove-california-billionaire-tax-vote
What did Tampa’s council approve on Oct. 29 about the Rays’ community benefits?
Tampa’s city council voted 4-3 on Oct. 29 to accept the Tampa Bay Rays’ promise of cash, programs and services for the city, valued at $21 million, and to let the team skip the benefits process the city code normally requires. Only $4.2 million is fixed, due by 2031; the rest depends on a new project list the team must bring the council for approval every five years. Separately, Tampa owes up to $80 million toward public works at the ballpark, and if the team falls short on benefits, the city cannot hold back those payments; its only remedy is to ask a court to order the team to deliver. Council members Charlie Miranda, Guido Maniscalco and Lynn Hurtak voted no (Tampa Bay Times; Tampa Bay Business & Wealth).
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/rays-tampa-21m-community-benefits-4-2m-first-five-years
Why is Endeavor suing Carl Icahn?
Endeavor, the company behind UFC and WWE, sued billionaire Carl Icahn and his Sunny Isles Beach company in New York federal court Oct. 28 over shares it says he “illegally acquired,” Law360 reports. It wants his company and another hedge fund to give up any profit from their bets against its buyout, Bloomberg Law reports. Silver Lake, the private equity firm that bought Endeavor, paid $27.50 a share; at that price Icahn’s company held stock worth about $755 million, by our arithmetic from its SEC filing. Every claim against Icahn is Endeavor’s allegation; no court has ruled.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/carl-icahn-sunny-isles-endeavor-suit-755m-stake
What did Nelson Peltz offer for Wendy’s?
Palm Beach investor Nelson Peltz and his partners offered on Oct. 28 to buy out Wendy’s other shareholders at $7.35 a share in cash, taking the chain private; by our arithmetic that values all of Wendy’s stock at about $1.4 billion. His partners are Flynn Group, one of the largest Wendy’s franchisees, and the investment firms BlueFive Capital and Sixth Street Partners, and Trian’s group already owns about 16% of the chain. The proposal is non-binding: a committee of Wendy’s independent directors is weighing it, with no assurance of a deal, and Blackwells Capital, a Wendy’s shareholder, says the price is too low.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/nelson-peltz-wendys-take-private-1-4-billion
What did Jeff Greene seek at Palm Beach County’s North County airport?
Jeff Greene, the billionaire investor and 2018 candidate for governor, offered $30 million for land beside Palm Beach County’s North County airport, tied to a 50-year jet terminal lease. Commissioners voted 7-0 on Oct. 20 to open both to rival bids, and as of Nov. 1 nothing had been sold or leased.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/jeff-greene-north-county-airport-30m-jet-terminal
What does Florida State owe Mike Norvell after firing him?
Florida State University fired Mike Norvell, its football coach for seven seasons, on Nov. 1, with the team at three wins and five losses after two seasons without a bowl game, the postseason reward for enough wins. The public university owes him a buyout on a contract that runs through 2031: AP puts it at roughly $47 million, CBS Sports at just over $48.6 million and ESPN at $50.3 million. No record from FSU, its trustees or Seminole Boosters, the FSU booster group, yet says whose money pays it, and AP and CBS report it could shrink if he takes another job.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/florida-state-mike-norvell-buyout-through-2031
What did David Jolly ask Byron Donalds to do about his family’s school companies?
David Jolly, the Democrat running for governor, asked Republican Byron Donalds on Oct. 22 to pledge to divest, if elected, his family’s interests in companies that profit off state spending. Erika Donalds, his wife, runs those charter school companies; she called treating her businesses as her husband’s property sexist and says her firms do not contract directly with the state. Byron Donalds says he will follow ethics rules, including recusal, and Florida votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/byron-donalds-jolly-divest-call-optimaed-15-7m
Who is buying Boca Raton’s ADT, and what is Apollo’s role?
ADT, the Boca Raton home-alarm company, agreed Oct. 29 to be bought by Thrive Holdings, a holding company with more than 75 businesses, for $10 a share in cash. That is 45.6% above its price before the news, and ADT’s shares would stop trading. Funds run by Apollo’s affiliated firms committed to lend the buyer money and to buy preferred shares in its parent, ADT’s SEC filing shows; Apollo’s funds sold their last ADT shares in May. Until Nov. 28, ADT may look for a better bid, and the deal is expected to close early next year.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/boca-raton-adt-buyout-apollo-financing
What did a Gulf-front Naples house sell for in October 2026?
A new Gulf-front house in Naples sold off-market for $69.4 million on Oct. 13, county records show, with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty on the seller’s side. The same piece of beach sold for $870,000 in 1985. The seller, a land trust, paid about $30 million for it in 2022, and the house and land just sold for more than twice that, by our arithmetic.
Full money cast: https://www.oldfloridamoney.com/story/naples-gulf-parcel-870000-in-1985-69-million-now