Teddy Sagi.
Teddy Sagi
Investor
Although Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi’s background is in tech, he’s clearly found life as a private real estate investor a lucrative endeavor.
Sagi is a frequent partner with Related Group, Florida’s pre-eminent developer, and BH Group, which acts as capital partner on multiple projects. Their ongoing projects include the Transit Village project in Downtown West Palm Beach, an ultra-luxury condo development on Biscayne Bay’s highly exclusive Fisher Island — where homes ask an average of $30 million — and a mixed hotel and residential development near the famed Diplomat Resort.
Sagi has also invested in other projects, including a plan to redevelop the White House Inn in North Miami, though his present involvement in the project is unclear due to its sale to Kolter Group earlier this year. (BH Group, led by Isaac and Liat Toledano, is reportedly still connected to the project.)
Often listed as one of the world’s wealthiest Israelis, Sagi made his initial fortune via gambling software developer Playtech in 1999, eventually taking the company public in 2006, according to the Financial Times. He then co-founded payment services company SafeCharge that same year, again taking the company public on London’s stock exchange in 2014. A few years later, SafeCharge was acquired by Canadian payment services company Nuvei for the equivalent of nearly $900 million. Sagi also purchased software startup Crossrider in 2012, eventually shifting its focus to cybersecurity and its name to Kape Technologies in 2018.
Yet, Sagi, who is currently based in Dubai, had already dipped his toes in commercial real estate years before investing in South Florida. In 2014, he started purchasing chunks of London’s famed Camden Market, beginning with buying Stables Market for the equivalent of roughly $670 million, and Camden Lock later that same year for roughly $165 million, according to reports at the
time.
Sagi now owns the entire market, as well as a number of other properties in London and in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.
Despite his role as a key South Florida investor, don’t ask Sagi for details on the development plans or the designs. When asked about the projects at a Real Deal conference late last year, the billionaire referred to himself as a passive investor, per TRD, saying “I’m not the decision-maker.”
