Pharma billionaire to sell Wainscott estate for $50M

Pharmaceutical billionaire Stewart Rahr has something to “rah rah” about.

The entrepreneur struck a deal to sell his sprawling Hamptons estate for roughly $50 million, one of the priciest deals inked in the area this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The home was first listed in 2015 for $95 million, and was most recently asking $56 million.

Rahr expanded and sold pharmaceutical distributor Kinray, which his father founded in 1944, to Cardinal Health for $1.3 billion in 2019. Forbes pegs his net worth at $2.3 billion. Beyond his fortune, Rahr has earned a reputation as an avid partier and celebrity schmoozer who refers to himself as “Rah Rah” and the “No. 1 King of All Fun.”

In 2005, the billionaire bought the 25-acre estate, which has 2,000 feet of waterfront views, for $40 million. Architect Francis Fleetwood designed the 25,000-square-foot, eight-bedroom home, which was completed in 2000. The property sits on a private peninsula in the small hamlet of Wainscott.

Changing buyer preferences spurred by the pandemic — namely the desire for more square footage, outdoor space and space to work from home — led to a spike in Long Island home sales last year. The Hamptons in particular has seen a surge in demand, with the median sale price jumping 55 percent to $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a report from appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The market saw 803 home sales that quarter, a 15-year high.

[WSJ] — Danielle Balbi