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Plate I · The Norriego Point Land
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The Lead · Politics · Panhandle
Robert J. Guidry’s LLCs bought the Norriego Point land for $7.9M in 2016 and 2017, and the state agreed to pay $83,326,520 for it. Division of Elections records show eight checks of $25,000 or more from his companies since February 2025, $100,000 of it this summer. Two went to the committee of Attorney General James Uthmeier, who sits by law on the trustees’ board that approved the deal.
On Sept. 30, 2025, the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund took up an option to buy about 4 acres on Destin Harbor from Pointe Mezzanine and Pointe Resort for $83,326,520, or $20,831,630 an acre. Both appraisals behind the price were done for the seller. Superior Waterfront Properties, another company Sunbiz ties to Guidry, had given Uthmeier’s committee $25,000 that February, seven months before the vote; Pointe Resort gave it $25,000 more on Aug. 10, 2026. The state closed on the land Dec. 11, 2025.
Old Florida Money desk · Wed Oct 7
Sources: Florida DEP Board of Trustees agenda and Attachment 4F; Florida Division of Elections; Sunbiz; Florida Statutes; Tampa Bay Times; WUWF; E&E News; Orlando Sentinel; Get the Coast; Seeking Rents
Read the full story
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Plate II · The Trustees’ Ledger
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Money Pulse
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$72.6M for development rights on 10,770 acres, the state says
On Sept. 29 the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, approved easements from Putnam and Hendry to a Hardee ranch once owned by Gov. Doyle Carlton; the owners keep the land. That is about $6,700 an acre; a year earlier the same board approved $20.8M an acre for 4 Destin acres bought outright (our arithmetic).
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$18M from Florida Realtors against $680,276
Six Realtors checks, Sept. 3 to 14, are the only money in Vote Yes on 3; the two committees fighting the property-tax amendment have raised $680,276, about 26 to 1 (state records; our math). Amendment 3 needs 60 percent on Nov. 3.
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$25,000 to James Uthmeier’s committee, seven months before the trustees’ vote
Robert J. Guidry’s Superior Waterfront Properties wrote it Feb. 19, 2025; the board on which the attorney general sits approved the $83.3M Destin deal Sept. 30, 2025. Pointe Resort sent Uthmeier’s committee another $25,000 on Aug. 10, 2026.
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$4.06M in public matching money, and Jolly has most of it
Through Oct. 2 the state had matched David Jolly $2.34M and Byron Donalds $1.04M; the program matches only gifts of $250 or less from Floridians, so PAC money is not matched.
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17 of at least 18 billionaires in the governor’s race backed Donalds
They account for $23.3M, 18% of his money (Tampa Bay Times). One of them, Ken Griffin, followed his $10M to the Donalds PAC with $3M each to the Senate and House Republican campaign committees on Aug. 6, Division of Elections records show.
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$10,000 from the Miccosukee Tribe to the Donalds PAC
Dated July 27. The Tribe is part of the lawsuit over the detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, and state election data show it has not given to Jolly; its chairman says it works with both sides on the Everglades.
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Plate III · The Check Held Out
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This edition, by desk
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Who signs, and who pays the signers. The trustees’ board that agreed in 2025 to pay $83.3M for 4 Destin acres approved $72.6M this fall, by the state’s count, for development rights on 10,770 acres. A Louisiana business owner’s companies wrote at least $350,000 in checks, and the governor’s and St. Petersburg mayor’s races run on PAC money.
The Lead, above
Donalds PAC tops $115M: Griffin’s $10M, the Seminole Tribe’s $5.5M, sports betting’s $2.25M
Florida’s land trust approved $72.6M for easements on 10,770 acres, the state says, including a ranch once owned by Gov. Doyle Carlton
Crist’s St. Pete war chest: more than $417K against Welch’s under $35K
Open the Politics desk
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The homestead amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot has one paying sponsor: Florida Realtors, $18M against $680,276 raised to oppose it. In Manalapan, Larry Ellison and David MacNeil split a lot for about $66.4M on reported prices and kept buying.
Florida Realtors put $18 million behind the property-tax amendment in 12 days; the two committees against it have raised $680,276
Ellison and MacNeil split a Manalapan lot for $66.4M, then kept assembling
Open the Houses desk
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One county, two franchises. Hillsborough’s share of the Rays ballpark, capped at $796,010,300, waits on bond validation with no firm date, while the county’s recommended budget carries $83.7M for Raymond James and the Buccaneers must decide by January 2027 whether to extend their lease.
The Rays deal heads for dirt: $876M public, $1.37B private, owner’s reps on the meter
Ray Jay’s $19.27M seat pick lands as the Bucs float a two-thirds public split
Open the Teams desk
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Forbes ranks Jeff Bezos Florida’s richest at about $378B, No. 2 in America. Several of the names behind him write the big PAC checks and own NFL teams.
Bezos is still Florida’s No. 1 at $378B; the Forbes 400 maps who moves Florida money
Open the People desk
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Advertisement · Oaktree Reserve
The Weight of a Legacy
A Florida story. A present-day invitation to plan what follows.
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Watch the film · 0:30
John Ringling had approximately $300 cash on hand at his death in 1936; this was not his estate’s total value. His home and museum transferred to Florida in 1946 after years of estate administration.
The aerial sequence is an AI-created interpretation, not recorded drone footage or a verified aerial survey. No family or museum endorsement is implied.
Historical source, imagery and transcript
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About
Old Florida Money is Oaktree Reserve’s public Florida capital brief: the named checks behind houses, teams, races, and public votes across the state.
Plates are painted illustrations, not depictions of the people named in the stories.
St. Petersburg · Est. MMXXV
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