The “Billionaires’ Bunker” Where Jeff Bezos Lives

It’s a tiny island, but its rate of millionaires per square meter beats all records. Zoom in on Indian Creek where the neighbors are called Ivanka Trump or Jeff Bezos. Precisely, the frenetic real estate activities of the founder of Amazon found themselves at the heart of the news last week.

marine brunner, miami (florida)

To catch a glimpse of the bricks on any of Jeff Bezos’ three properties on Indian Creek, you can always swim. Miami Bay’s most closely guarded gem, located west of Surfside and south of Bal Harbour, is also, inevitably, one of its best-kept.

Passing through the area, watson tried to poke his nose between the hydrangea clumps to catch a glimpse of this ultra-private island… before quickly moving on, put off by the stern gaze of the guards posted on site 24 hours a day at the entrance. Tourists, curious onlookers and paparazzi are asked to move along. There’s nothing to see.

Safety, calm and beauty

This is what makes this tiny 1.2 km island² so precious to its residents: the guarantee of a security system that rivals that of some small states. Indian Creek has a private police force of 13 people alone, responsible for making regular rounds, as well as a marine patrol that operates 24 hours a day.

The “billionaires’ bunker” is only accessible to the rest of the world by a bridge. Just one. As with a medieval fortress, each entrance is therefore done in dribs and drabs.

A much better-guarded and more discreet corner than its sister, Star Island, another island in Miami which counts Sean Combs and Jennifer Lopez among its inhabitants, and which the American media Curbed described it in 2015 as “a small neighborhood of big houses and drama.” While Star Island’s residents believe they are protected behind large gates, “you can get there without too much difficulty. These are public roads,” an insider told the magazine. Town&Country in 2022.

Their island being completely inaccessible to ordinary mortals, the 84 inhabitants of Indian Creek (for a total of 12 households and 10 families according to a 2020 census) are assured of only meeting those with rights.

Beyond the privacy and security, those who know it describe the island as less flashy and flashy than its neighbors. “It’s low-key and super chic. Kind of old-school,” one South Beach insider told me in 2022. “The whole island is really beautiful and well-kept.”

With a median price of $13.6 million per home, according to the Miami Heraldthe only street on the island is incidentally the most expensive in the United States.

The lair of the cream of the crop

And for good reason: the list of residents of the “billionaires’ bunker” is a real who’s who of the world’s elite. From tech and finance bigwigs to sports legends, entertainment moguls and political influencers. To name a few: Donald Trump’s beloved daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner; former football player Tom Brady and his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen; singer Julio Iglesias; investor Carl Icahn and, it seems, the Emir of Qatar.

For those who don’t have a strong sense of neighborhood and small talk, don’t panic: “There’s a lot of separation between neighbors,” according to Pablo Alfaro, a Miami-based real estate agent with Douglas Elliman. “The lots are large, most of them are at least half an acre.”

For the rest of us, the whole bunch of people get to drink mimosas and slurp lobster at the Indian Creek Country Club, which occupies most of this green setting. Once dubbed “the most exclusive and controversial private society in Miami-Dade County” (according to Page Sixfollowing a scandal for trying to limit the number of black and Jewish members), this Spanish-style private club was built in the early 1920s by Swiss architect Maurice Fatio.

Its 300 members not only have access to one of the most renowned 18-hole golf courses in the world, but also to a restaurant offering “super good food”. Not to mention the essential fitness, swimming pool, sauna and massage rooms. Expect to pay $150,000 for registration fees.

That said, owning a home on Indian Creek doesn’t automatically guarantee you membership. Only eight or nine residents are said to be members, according to the Miami New Times in 2010. Jared and Ivanka, on the other hand, would have failed to be there in 2021. Too bad. Because, beyond its infrastructure, the Indian Creek Country Club is above all a place of socialization and networking for the cream of Miami, who can meet at costume parties or New Year’s Eve parties.

The Jeff Bezos case

Moreover, among the gossip served on the buffet, somewhere between the oysters and the glasses of champagne, an article from Wall Street Journal published last week must have caused quite a stir. The business daily was the first to report the news of a lawsuit involving a former resident of Indian Creek, Miami real estate agency Douglas Elliman… and one of Jeff Bezos’ latest acquisitions on the island.

The billionaire, in fact, owns no fewer than three houses out of the forty or so residences that make up Indian Creek. The first was acquired last year for $68 million. The second a few months later for $79 million. And finally, the third, for $90 million, no later than this year.

This is the second acquisition by Jeff Bezos to find itself at the heart of a legal turmoil. According to the Wall Street JournalBrazilian toy and electronics company co-founder Leo Kryss reportedly put his seven-bedroom estate, complete with wine cellar, library, theater and pool, on the market in May 2023 for a cool $85 million. Just the following month, the Amazon founder moved in next door, having relocated from Seattle to Miami with a bang, a bang and tabloid headlines.

Shortly after, Leo Kryss received an offer of $79 million for his house. When he curiously inquired at his real estate agent if Jeff Bezos himself would not be behind this offer, the Douglas Elliman agency assures him that it is not. And yet. What will be the – unpleasant – surprise of Leo Kryss to discover, shortly after the closing, that the buyer is indeed an entity linked to the Amazon billionaire.

Believing that he had been wronged and had lost six million dollars in the transaction, the businessman is therefore suing the developer Douglas Elliman, arguing that:

To be continued, for the greatest pleasure of gossip lovers in the very closed circle of Indian Creek. And for others too.