TV personality Michael Wekerle sells Fort Lauderdale mansion for $17M

“Dragon’s Den” investor was asking $20M for waterfront estate

Michael Wekerle and the Fort Lauderdale property (Getty, Compass via Douglas Elliman)
Michael Wekerle and the Fort Lauderdale property (Getty, Compass via Douglas Elliman)

Canadian TV personality Michael Wekerle sold his waterfront Fort Lauderdale estate for $16.5 million to the head of Beowulf Energy.

The Wekerle Family 2011 Trust sold the 9,151-square-foot mansion at 1000 Riviera Isle Drive to Paul B. Prager, trustee of The Prager Manga Reva Revocable Trust, property records show.

The Fort Lauderdale property hit the market last year for $20 million. It has eight bedrooms, nine full bathrooms and two half-bathrooms.

Prager is the founder, chairman and CEO of New York City-based Beowulf, an infrastructure holding company that develops, builds, owns and operates power generation and industrial infrastructure facilities worldwide, according to its website.

Prager financed the purchase with a $11.6 million loan from Bank of America, records show.

Wekerle is an investor on “Dragon’s Den,” a Canadian version of “Shark Tank.” In 2012, he co-founded the Toronto-based investment firm Difference Capital, which merged with Mogo Finance Technology in 2019.

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He bought the home in 2014 for $12.5 million, records show. He later listed it for $19.3 million in October, and raised the asking price to $20.3 million in February. Ruchel Coetzee of Douglas Elliman brokered the deal.

According to the original listing, his art collection, which he valued between $2.5 and $3 million, was also for sale.

The house was built by former president and CEO of brewing company Anheuser-Busch, Adolphus Busch III, in the 1930s. According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the original features, like stone columns and decorative tilework, are still intact, although Wekerle has made some renovations.

Records show Wekerle reroofed the home and converted a garage into more bedrooms. The property also features a lap pool and 520 feet of deep water frontage.

Recent closings in Fort Lauderdale include the $6 million sale of a three-story vacation home that the two co-founders of a mortgage bank sold; and author and social media influencer, Patrick Bet-David’s $20.4 million purchase of a waterfront mansion.