A prominent billionaire optometrist turned philanthropist has splashed out a staggering $61.75 million for a newly built waterfront compound in the tony Florida enclave of Manalapan, marking one of the area’s most expensive residential real estate deals in recent history.
Dr. Herbert ‘Herbie’ Wertheim, who has a net worth of $4 billion, closed on the eight-bedroom mansion Dec. 15, according to records. It is the first time since 2022, when billionaire Larry Ellison snapped up a $173 million Manalapan property, that a private home in the exclusive community has changed hands for more than $60 million.
Beyond the price of the property itself, Dr. Wertheim, who made his fortune “over five decades of investing in stocks” using the profits from his eyeglass business, Brain Power, spent a total of $3.75 million on “additional assets and credits,” including all of the decadent furnishings inside the abode…