"Jeff Greene is a billionaire who made most of his fortune shorting subprime mortgages ahead of the last recession. Greene took a private jet to this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, along with his wife, children and two nannies, and then told Bloomberg that "America's lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence. We need to reinvent our whole system of life."
Green owns a $195-million palace in Beverly Hills with 23 bathrooms and a rotating dance floor, two other Los Angeles mansions, a mansion in Palm Beach, a mansion in the Hamptons, and a 145-foot party yacht called Summerwind that once severely damaged a protected coral reef off Belize. Here's a look:
Greene paid $35 million for Beverly Hills's Palazzo di Amore in 2007, when it was still only partly built. He finished the job and today the property has a 35,000-square-foot main house with 12 bedrooms, a 3,000-bottle wine cellar and tasting room, a separate 10,000-bottle cellar, a kitchen with walk-in fridge, a staff wing, and a Turkish spa; a 15,000-square-foot entertainment center with bowling alley, 50-seat theater, "a dressing room for live stage shows," and a disco/ballroom with "state-of-the-art laser light system and revolving dance floor"; a vineyard that produces 400 to 500 cases a year; a total of 23 bathrooms; a quarter-mile driveway; and the aforementioned rotating dance floor. He put it up for sale last fall for $195 million, the most expensive home on the market in America by far.
Click here or on the image above for more pictures of Greene's Palazzo di Amore.
Today when they're in Los Angeles, Greene and family mostly stay in this three-story, beachfront Malibu house, which he had built in 2010 (he bought the property for $5.5 million in 2007). The 4,110-square-foot home has four bedrooms, glass walls and direct ocean access. Greene's been trying to sell the house for years. It's now listed at $11.75 million.
Click here or on the image above for more pictures of Greene's Malibu house
In 2009, Greene decided to leave California (possibly for tax purposes) and move back to Palm Beach, Florida, where he grew up. He paid $24 million for La Bellucia, a 1920 estate with a nine-bedroom, 12,000-square-foot main house designed by Addison Mizner and 234 feet of oceanfront. During an extensive renovation of the house, he shacked up with his family in six suites at his own Omphoy Ocean Resort hotel, where he reportedly converted a banquet-equipment storage room into "a playroom with a photo booth, juke box and movie theater" and a meditation garden into a playground for his children.
Click here or on the image above for more pictures of La Bellucia.
Greene paid $36 million in 2011 for a Hamptons spread called Tyndal Point; it's a 55-acre parcel with 3,000 feet of beachfront, three houses, two carriage houses, and two docks.
Click here or on the image above for more pictures of Greene's Hamptons spread.
Greene bought his bachelor pad in Beverly Hills in 2002 for $1.575 million. It was recently renovated, but in its Greene heyday it had five bedrooms, a 1,000-bottle wine cellar, a dance club, a theater, a four-story elevator, and two dog runs. Also possibly an observatory. He's downsizing, though: After trying for years to sell it, just a couple of days ago he closed a sale on it for $8.9 million.
Click here or on the image above for more pictures of Greene's Beverly Hills bachelor pad." Images from Yahoo.com. via Free Rep.
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1/21/15, "Billionaire Greene, Who Bet Against Subprime, Goes Long on U.S. While Bemoaning Jobs Crisis," Bloomberg, Matthew G. Miller
"Billionaire Jeff Greene, who amassed a multibillion dollar fortune betting against subprime mortgage securities, says the U.S. faces a jobs crisis that will cause social unrest and radical politics.
"America's lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence," Greene said in an interview today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "We need to reinvent our whole system of life."
The 60-year-old founder of Coral Gables, Florida-based Florida Sunshine Investments said his biggest fund was up more than 20 percent last year with bets on Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. (GOOG), bank stocks and mortgage-backed securities.
"I'm remarkably long for my level of pessimism," he said. "Our economy is in deep trouble. We need to be honest with ourselves. We've had a realistic level of job destruction, and those jobs aren't coming back."
Greene, who flew his wife, children and two nannies on a private jet plane to Davos for the week, said he's planning a conference in Palm Beach, Florida, at the Tideline Hotel called "Closing the Gap." The event, which he said is scheduled for December, will feature speakers such as economist Nouriel Roubini.
"I live in Palm Beach, where no one wants to hear bad news," he said. "We need to have an event where people aren't just focused on predicting the price of oil."
Greene says he has no investors or partners and manages about $2 billion in financial investments, more than $750 million in real estate and at least $1.5 billion in assorted property development projects.
The billionaire said he's planning on having dinner tonight with former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, and will attend several private meals and parties throughout the week."
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