Hedge funder’s widow, once accused of killing her husband, sells Palm Beach Gardens home for $16M 

A woman who was once accused of killing her husband has potentially better days ahead. 

With a years-long drama behind her, the widow formerly known as Filomena Tobias sold a waterfront Palm Beach Gardens spec house for $15.6 million.

Tobias, who now goes by Mia Manente, cashed in on the home at 2390 Cardinal Lane, landing a deal with an unknown financier from the Northeast, a source confirmed. The deed has yet to be recorded. 

Vince Marotta of Illustrated Properties had the listing, and James Kenny of K2 Realty brought the buyer.

Manente is the widow of Seth Tobias, her fourth husband, a former CNBC commentator and founder of the hedge fund Circle T, which was based in New York City and managed about $300 million. 

She found him dead in the pool at their Bear’s Club home in 2006. In the months that followed, his brothers sued to block her from inheriting his $25 million estate and accused Manente of drugging him with Ambien, according to published reports. The mudslinging escalated to include reports of alleged activities that included cocaine use, speaking with internet psychics and Tobias’ alleged affair with a gay sex worker named Tiger. 

Manente was cleared of any wrongdoing in Tobias’ death, ABC reported in 2008. She settled with his brothers in 2010, and made headlines again in 2013 for giving basketball star Joakim Noah the finger at a Miami Heat game, according to published reports. The next year she changed her name and sold the Bear’s Club home where Tobias died for $3.8 million, records show.

Manente bought the 0.8-acre Palm Beach Gardens property for $1.7 million in 2020, according to property records. She tore down the existing home and completed the 5,600-square-foot house last year, records show. The home has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, three half-bathrooms, a pool, a dock and 90 feet of waterfront on the Intracoastal Waterway. 

Manente listed it for $17.4 million in February, Redfin shows. The property was an investment for her, Marotta confirmed. It was particularly valuable for boaters given its position South of Donald Ross Road, which is a no wake zone along the Intracoastal, he said. 

Turnkey, new construction homes are also in high demand among luxury buyers.

“When they see something that’s renovated, it’s a game changer,” Marotta said. “I think I could have sold it a couple times.”

It’s a rare, pricey sale for a home not in one of Palm Beach Gardens’ gated communities, which are favored by luxury buyers. Old Palm Golf Club has proven particularly popular with the uber-wealthy crowd in recent months. Hedge fund billionaire Larry Robbins moved his family to a $13.9 million mansion there while their larger estate in Hobe Sound is under construction. The family of late coal billionaire Chris Cline bought a $19.5 million Old Palm spec mansion in February. BET co-founder Robert Johnson dropped $20 million on a mansion there in June of last year.