Five years after his death, the family of real estate mogul Tamir Sapir is fighting over his fortune.
Rotem Rosen — Sapir’s former son-in-law — is seeking $103 million for his work on behalf of the family’s real estate empire, according to court documents, which cite a “falling out” between Rosen and Alex Sapir, his former business partner, brother-in-law and executor of Tamir Sapir’s estate.
Rosen, who was once CEO of the Sapir Organization, claims in court documents that he is still owed $103 million for his role in steering the family’s real estate empire through the financial crisis a decade ago. But he said he was not paid for certain deals, including the sale of 11 Madison Avenue to SL Green Realty for $2.6 billion in 2015.
Representatives for Alex Sapir and Rosen did not comment.
In court documents, Alex Sapir said Rosen is entitled to no such amount, and instead is attempting to take credit for “the work of Sapir Organization executives or personnel.” A representative for the Sapir family summed up Rosen’s claims as a “sham,” according to the New York Post.
But in a June 2019 court filing, Alex Sapir also said if Rosen prevails, his former brother-in-law would be required to share the payment with Sapir since the two were 50-50 partners in ASRR Capital, through which they conducted much of the restructuring work for the Sapir Org. In 2017, Sapir bought out Rosen’s stake in ASRR for $70 million.
Rosen and Alex Sapir formed a partnership — ultimately ASRR — to “restructure — and resurrect — Tamir’s distressed business empire,” according to Rosen’s suit. ASRR “transformed Tamir’s empire into a flourishing and successful business, resulting in more than a billion dollars of profits for Tamir and, upon his death, Tamir’s estate,” the suit states.
Until recently, Rosen was married to Alex’s sister, Zina Sapir-Rosen, who filed for divorce in April. (The two wed at a lavish ceremony at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.)
In court documents, Alex Sapir said that Rosen’s counterclaims “represent a vexatious effort to extort a favorable outcome in an ongoing matrimonial proceeding between Rosen and Zina Sapir.”
Tamir Sapir’s assets, once worth $2 billion, shrank to around $600 million at the time of his death.
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