Jeff Greene

Greene dabbled in real estate during college and then developed projects in Los Angeles and New York. But he hit it big as a “Big Short” investor, making $800 million by predicting and betting against the housing bubble in the mid 2000s.

In recent decades, he has focused his investment on West Palm Beach. His projects include the $250 million mixed-use One West Palm project; the Tideline Palm Beach Ocean Resort and Spa; a 26-acre assemblage in West Palm Beach’s Currie District; and the private Greene School. 

Not one to back down from a fight, he has racked up a trail of high-profile lawsuits and butted heads with officials and other developers.

One West Palm, which ran at least four years behind its expected 2021 completion, spawned dueling lawsuits between Greene and Kast Construction. In 2020, Greene threatened to pull the plug on the project if the city didn’t approve rezoning. 

In 2025, he sued West Palm over stalled approval of his luxury Currie district condo towers, calling it “retaliation” for his objection to sell city land to Steve Ross for an allegedly bargain price. Greene, who has been outshined by Ross in West Palm, has publicly praised Ross. Still, they clashed over land sales tied to a prospective University of Florida campus that was later canceled.

A prominent Democrat, Greene has also dabbled in politics, but lost Florida Senate and gubernatorial races. 

— Lidia Dinkova