Russian Billionaire Vlad Doronin Has Sold His Miami-Area Home for a Record $120M

A Russian billionaire has set a new record for Miami-Dade county with the $120 million sale of his Star Island estate—but the home may not be around for much longer.

The residence, which once belonged to retired NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, is rumored to be a teardown purchase. 

Developer Vladislav Doronin bought the home from O’Neal for $16 million in 2009. The Real Deal and the South Florida Business Journal reported news of the sale.

The rare slice of Miami Beach’s Star Island takes up a coveted corner lot.

A small part of it was built in 1924, the South Florida Business Journal reported, but a majority of the home went up in 1992. Doronin’s company made renovations nearly 20 years later in 2011.

The sprawling abode includes eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms and three half-bathrooms, not to mention a pool, a private dock and a tennis court. 

But despite the luxurious digs, The Post has learned that the next owner may be planning to tear down the waterfront estate, which sits on increasingly valuable land.

Star Island, a man-made isle in Miami Beach, is a star-studded locale with little more than 30 properties that rarely list. Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias are among those who have called the small island home over the years. Star Island became the country’s most expensive neighborhood in 2023.

Doronin, who sold his Star Island home through a firm, heads the luxury development firm OKO Group and Aman Resorts, a high-end hotel group that enjoys a cult following among the über rich. 

An LLC associated with health care technology entrepreneur Michael Ferro was the buyer, various outlets reported. 

The off-market sale far surpasses Miami-Dade’s previous record holder—Ken Griffin’s purchase of Adrienne Arsht’s Miami mansion for roughly $107 million in September 2022. 

This $120 million transaction is one link in a chain of recent record-setting sales across South Florida, where high-end properties are selling fast and often off-market. 

“I was looking at Manhattan real estate for myself, and I was like, ‘Wow, when did Manhattan become cheaper than Miami?’” Eloy Carmenate of Corcoran, who was not involved in the deal, told The Post.

Billionaires are flocking to Miami, along with their lucrative businesses. 

Doronin’s OKO Group is itself catering to such clientele with its newly opened office tower, 830 Brickell, which is already home to tenants like Citadel, Microsoft and Santander.

“These are some major global firms that are not only just coming down to get their foot in the water, they’re leasing 40, 80, over 100,000 square feet, and they’re moving their businesses down here,” Darin Tansey of Douglas Elliman, who was not involved in the deal, told The Post.

The South Florida luxury market, Tansey said, is getting stronger—and more competitive, as it transforms from a vacation spot into a popular home base.

While the Florida housing market overall is experiencing a dramatic flattening in single family home sales—as the runaway market of COVID cools down and new supply reaches decreasing demand—there seems no end in sight to the red hot interest in ultra-luxe listings. 

This is not the first time Doronin has broken sales records, either. New York City’s priciest sale of 2024 was Doronin’s $135 million purchase of a five-story penthouse in his own building, the Aman New York’s Crown Building—and that was with a $45 million discount.