Yext founder and CEO Howard Lerman is the buyer of a Miami Beach spec mansion that recently sold for $17 million, The Real Deal has learned.
Lerman, head of the New York City technology firm, acquired the 10,665-square-foot estate at 6010 North Bay Road from luxury homebuilder Peter Fine’s To Better Days Development, according to sources.
Records show The WonderLion Land Trust, managed by attorney Alexander Sundstrom, paid $17 million for the house. Lerman and Brian Distelburger, co-founder and president of Yext, control WonderWings LLC, a limited liability company they created in late January that lists the same North Bay Road address.
Listing broker Nelson Gonzalez of EWM Realty International declined to comment on the buyer. Richard Steinberg and Payton Smith of Douglas Elliman represented the buyer. Steinberg and Smith declined to comment.
Yext, an online brand management company, offers a network of apps, maps, search engines and other services. Clients using its Yext Knowledge Engine include Taco Bell, Rite Aid, and Steward Health Care, according to Yext’s website.
Fine completed the Miami Beach home in January 2018 and had it listed for $18.95 million. It sits on a 21,228-square-foot lot with 85 feet of waterfront. The property has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, indoor/outdoor living areas, a custom Italian kitchen and a summer kitchen, an orchid garden, home theater, waterfront office and a gym, according to a release.
The Yext founder isn’t the only tech buyer to close on a Miami Beach mansion recently. In 2017, venture capitalist Jim Goetz paid $22 million for a waterfront home on the Venetian Islands. Goetz is known for his $60 million investment in WhatsApp, which became valued at more than $3 billion worth of Facebook stock after the popular mobile messaging app sold to Facebook in 2014.