Billionaire William Lauder has struck a nearly $200M deal for Palm Beach land sale
William Lauder, the billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, is cashing in on Palm Beach’s sizzling real estate market.
The cosmetics mogul has reportedly found a buyer for two prime oceanfront lots, with the sale price nearing his original sky-high $200 million ask, sources familiar with the deal told the Wall Street Journal. Serhant’s own Ryan Serhant repped the buyer, we hear.
If the final number tops $170 million, it would set a new record for Palm Beach, dethroning the previous high set in 2023 when luxury car dealer Michael Cantanucci and his wife, Kimberly, shelled out a similar sum for a beachfront estate.
Lauder, who once helmed Estée Lauder Companies, initially listed the sprawling 2.8-acre property last year for $200 million before trimming the price to $177.8 million.
He assembled the land through two separate purchases — one in 2020 for just under $25.4 million and another in 2021 for an undisclosed sum — before leveling existing homes to create a blank canvas for ultra-wealthy buyers.
While moving to offload these vacant lots, Lauder didn’t sit out.
Shortly after listing them, he dropped a breathtaking $155 million on the late Rush Limbaugh’s longtime Palm Beach estate, adding another trophy property to his collection.
Palm Beach’s luxury real estate scene has been on fire since the pandemic, with prices skyrocketing.
The median single-family home price hit $10.9 million in the fourth quarter — up more than 24% in a year — while the median luxury sale price more than doubled to $34.4 million.
Lauder is no stranger to high-stakes real estate moves. In 2019, he attempted to sell a ritzy Manhattan apartment at 778 Park Ave. for $45 million before slashing the price and eventually pulling it from the market.
Now, he’s trying again — this time listing a different unit in the same building for $26.95 million, just above what he paid in 2023.
