Politics

Billionaire with colorful past said to be considering jumping in Florida Senate race should Crist leave the GOP

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
Font Size:

Mike Tyson was the best man in his wedding. Former madam Heidi Fleiss once lived in his house. And now, depending on what Gov. Charlie Crist decides to do later this week, he could be the man who allows Democrats to pick up a seat in the soap-opera saga that is the Florida Senate race.

Jeff Greene, the Florida billionaire who founded Florida Sunshine Realty & Investment and was listed by Forbes as one of the 400 richest people in the world, is said to be considering a primary challenge to Rep. Kendrick Meek for the Democratic nomination, a well-placed Democratic strategist told The Daily Caller.

Meek is generally seen as a weak candidate with dismal chances of defeating the Republican candidate. Greene’s thinking, said the strategist, is that an independent candidacy by Crist would siphon votes from Republican Marco Rubio, and make the seat much more attainable for Democrats with a strong candidate.

Donor records viewed by The Daily Caller show that Greene has donated money to Democratic causes, including $30,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and even $500 to potential opponent Meek. According to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, Greene, who made his fortune by pioneering credit default, has been soliciting advice from Democratic consultants Doug Schoen, Joe Trippi and Paul Blank.

A Greene candidacy would come with colorful baggage. In addition to his friendship with Fleiss and Tyson, Greene went to court with director Ron Howard in a dispute over rental property. As Forbes put it in a profile: “When Greene is not sailing he bounces between five homes, including a 63,000-square-foot one in Beverly Hills, Calif. Greene dubbed the mansion Palazzo di Amore prior to using it last year to host his $1 million wedding, which the 53-year-old is quick to point out was his first.”

The prospect of Greene making a bid for office at time when the country is struggling to recover from a recession triggered by the collapse of the housing market may strike some as ironic — his wealth came from betting against the housing market. When subprime mortages fell, he got rich when his credit default swaps rose in value. He brought in $800 million in profit, and next he knew, he was on the Forbes 400 and was worth $1.4 billion.

Doug Schoen did not respond to emails asking for comment, and attempts by The Daily Caller to reach Greene were unsuccessful.

Email Alex Pappas and follow him on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel