Billionaire Charles Cohen faces losing his fine wines, artworks, mansions, superyachts and Ferraris as he scrambles to sell properties so he can pay back loans that went bad on soured real estate deals, according to a report.
Cohen, 73, is being sued by Fortress Investment Group over a $535 million loan it made to his property firm, Cohen Realty Enterprises, in 2022.
His collateral included a Manhattan office tower, the Le Méridien Dania Beach hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and four other properties, according to records from New York State Supreme Court.
But Cohen, who has a nearly $2 billion net worth, also personally guaranteed $187.2 million of that loan, the Wall Street Journal earlier reported.
That opened the door for Fortress, an investment giant partially owned by Abu Dhabi government fund Mubadala Capital, to go after him personally when his business defaulted last year.
Fortress took control of most of his collateral, but said the value still falls short of what Cohen owes.
So the firm has launched legal efforts to seize Cohen’s mega-mansions in France’s Provence region and Greenwich, Conn., according to New York court records.
Fortress has also set its sights on Cohen’s 25 luxury vehicles, including two Ferraris, and a 220-foot yacht worth nearly $50 million, which was blocked from leaving an Italian port earlier this month.
The firm has already seized hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of art, decor and fine wines from the Château de Chausse – Cohen’s 138-acre home and vineyard in Provence.
Lawyers for Cohen and a representative for Fortress declined to comment.
It wouldn’t be the first time personal guarantees have sunk a businessman – famously landing Donald Trump near bankruptcy in the 1990s.
Fortress has argued that Cohen is blocking the firm from enforcing the guarantees by transferring ownership of assets to his family members, according to court records.
The real estate king moved ownership of the yacht stuck in the Port of Loano under his wife’s name last year, according to these records.
Cohen argued these transfers were done for estate and tax-planning purposes. A French court ruled in his favor in the case of the Provence château.
“They [Fortress] keep pecking at us, like a bird would peck at something,” Cohen said during a February deposition. “Enough was never enough.”
Cohen’s firm is countersuing Fortress.
The billionaire said he has used personal guarantees before and has never had this kind of problem.
His attorneys have argued that Fortress’ actions – like putting restraints on Cohen’s brokerage accounts and on accounts held by his mother and sister – amount to harassment.
Cohen cannot withdraw money from his personal accounts without Fortress’ approval.
Fortress has argued that it subpoenaed Cohen’s family members because he transferred personal assets to them.
“Fortress is left with no choice but to begin enforcing its judgment against Cohen’s assets,” the firm said, according to court records, noting a duty to investors.
Fortress and Cohen’s partnership was nothing new. The investment giant had financed many of Cohen’s real-estate deals in the years before the pandemic.
But Cohen’s portfolio suffered in 2020 as demand for office space and movie theaters – which make up a significant chunk of his properties – plunged.
As other building owners gave properties back to lenders, Cohen held on and agreed to a restructuring plan with Fortress, which included the personal guarantees.
But the market remained in a stubborn slump, forcing the pair to modify the 2022 loan four times before Cohen’s business defaulted in March 2024.
Cohen said he had a handshake deal with Fortress for another extension, but the firm denied this and the state supreme court and appellate court ruled in the investment group’s favor.
“Defendant’s statements that the parties understood that the December emails were a binding agreement…were self-serving and unsubstantiated,” the appellate court ruled.
Cohen said he is now rushing to sell properties so he can raise cash for Fortress.
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