Does a phone call constitute a binding sales agreement? Music mogul Len Blavatnik thinks so, but a New York judge begs to differ and tossed his lawsuit over an Upper East Side townhouse deal.
Blavatnik sued art heir David Wildenstein, claiming he reneged on a verbal promise to sell him his family’s Upper East Side 20,500-square-foot townhouse at 19 East 64th Street for $79 million. The property sold to another bidder for $81 million.
“Your extraordinarily sophisticated and well-heeled client… relied on an oral telephone conversation,” Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich told Blavatnik’s attorneys. “He clearly knows that is not sufficient for a deal.”
According to the New York Post, Blavatnik plans to appeal Kornreich’s decision.
Back in 2014, Qatar’s government signed a contract to buy the townhouse for $90 million, but ultimately walked away from the deal. [NYP] — Konrad Putzier