WeatherTech’s David MacNeil Adds to Oceanfront Estate

Billionaire David MacNeil closed on a $36 million purchase of neighboring land in Manalapan, adding to the WeatherTech mogul’s compound.

1920 South Ocean Boulevard in Manalapan (Jack Elkins)

MacNeil acquired the property at 1920 South Ocean Boulevard, records show. The sellers are car dealership owner Ralph Gesualdo and his wife, Mary, of Milwaukee. The Gesualdos paid $10.3 million for the property in 2020, which means they nearly tripled their investment. Margit Brandt of Premier Estate Properties represented MacNeil in the latest deal.

The 1.9-acre property includes eight bedrooms, nine and a half bathrooms, a guest house and a beach house, as well as private beach access. It was last asking $37 million.

MacNeil also owns the ocean-to-lake Manalapan estate immediately south, at 1940 South Ocean Boulevard, which he acquired in February for $68.3 million.

MacNeil and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison also split the purchase of the 4-acre oceanfront property at 1960 South Ocean Boulevard, leaving the WeatherTech mogul with 5.8 acres of contiguous land. MacNeil paid $32 million for his portion of the lot.

The seller in those deals is real estate developer Stewart Satter, who planned to build a massive estate on the property with an asking price of $285 million. Ellison has not yet closed on his purchase. Ellison paid $173 million for his adjacent 15-acre compound in 2022.

MacNeil has spent $136.3 million on the three properties since February.

He, Ellison and a number of other high-net worth individuals have been “landmaxxing” — buying out their neighbors to create larger compounds — across South Florida. Citadel billionaire Ken Griffin is the strongest example, dropping more than $450 million over more than a decade to piece together a 27-acre Palm Beach compound. Griffin has spent more than $1 billion assembling land from Miami to Palm Beach, The Real Deal previously reported.