Former Barclays CEO Splashes Out on 2.6 Acres in the Hamptons

“I’m like King Midas in reverse, here. Everything I touch turns to shit.” — Tony Soprano

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, Tony.” – Jeffrey Epstein

The resignations or firings of financial bigwigs who had dealings with the toxically radioactive pedophile Jeffrey Epstein continues. Most recent was Jes Staley’s departure from Barclays, where he had been CEO for nearly six years. On November 1, the British Daily Mail published “Until his shocking departure yesterday, £4 million-a-year Barclays boss Jes Staley had seemed like the banker with nine lives. The 64-year-old American Master of the Universe had shown an almost preternatural ability to survive blows that would have felled any other chief executive.” Except, however, his dealings with Epstein, which no matter how businesslike or innocent, are the kiss of death today.

On a happier note, however, Staley and his wife Debora closed on a new Hamptons property in October. The property was listed by Pat Petrillo at Sotheby’s and closed for $13.2 million. The couple, whose main residence is on New York’s Park Avenue, also own a smaller Southampton property, which is currently for sale with a $12.9 million ask.

The new place, in the snooty Murray compound in Southampton, sports the essential deeded beach access by way of a hedge-lined grass path. Also, at 2.6 acres, the property is much larger than their current one-acre spread.

While the house itself is reportedly a teardown, there’s a sunken tennis court with pavilion, and a gunite pool. The building envelope for the new house is 12,400 square feet, plus a full basement. (Here in the Hamptons, we call the basement the “lower level.” It usually includes a home theater, wine storage, gym, and rooms for staff.) At $1,000 a square foot for high-end building work… well, you do the math for a 12,000 square foot house.

The listing says the land “has potential to be an important Southampton estate.” Guess that’s where the Staleys are going with it. Just don’t mention Epstein at the housewarming.