A wealthy influencer’s husband tried to “keep up with the Bezos family,” but ended up millions of dollars in debt before his sudden death at age 43.
Real estate mogul Brandon Miller, who is married to popular mommy blogger Candace Miller, He died a few days after being admitted to the hospital. On July 3.
While the cause of his death has not yet been revealed, new details have emerged surrounding Mr. Miller’s life in the lead-up to his death, including allegations that the real estate mogul was about $25 million in debt, a source told The New York Times. New York Post.
Miller was found unconscious in the garage of his $3 million (A$4.5 million) holiday home in Southampton, a coastal city in a coastal area known as the Hamptons.
The 43-year-old man was found after the local fire department was alerted to an alarm in the garage, according to the report.
His wife, the co-founder of lifestyle blog Mama + Tata, and their two young daughters were staying at a luxury hotel on Italy’s Amalfi Coast as part of a luxury trip to Europe documented on Candice’s Instagram account.
The family quickly returned home, and are said to have been able to see him before he died.
Real estate mogul Brandon Miller, who was married to popular mommy blogger Candace Miller, died suddenly at the age of 43 on July 3. Photo: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for Hamptons Magazine
The Millers have been shuttling between their lavish homes in the Hamptons and Manhattan, where the couple owns an $11 million (about $15.5 million AUD) home on Park Avenue, a posh street in New York City.
But behind closed doors, Mr. Miller was struggling to finance the couple’s lavish lifestyle, New York Post It has been reported.
“It’s not about keeping up with the Joneses anymore. It’s more like keeping up with the Bezos, but no one can compete,” one Hamptons insider told the paper.
“There is a whole type of rich people now that didn’t exist before. They are [the Millers] They were trying…they were living beyond their means, and now the truth is out.
“There are probably 10 or 20 people in the Hamptons who qualify as billionaires. But you can be sure they’re not the ones sharing their lives on Instagram.”
Candice, whose circle of friends included Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Ivanka Trump, as well as her cousin, fashion blogger Arielle Charnas, drew envy and resentment for showing off what everyone assumed was her vast wealth and “perfect” family.
The real estate mogul was allegedly $25 million in debt at the time of his death. Photo: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan
Candice is also a head buyer for the popular clothing store and runs a vintage-inspired clothing line called Black Iris.
I boasted about it. Weekly facials from Aida Bekaj worth $800 ($1,200 AUD) She was a member of Tracy Anderson’s exercise studio, threw $100,000 (A$150,000) parties and spared no expense when she and her husband were They renewed their vows in 2019..
The theme of the party was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Sources told New York Post She even downloaded full-length movies while traveling on private planes — a practice that can cost thousands of dollars.
But while the money seemed to flow from the Miller family’s hands like water, its arrival was slow, allegedly due to questionable business dealings. Lawsuits that were piling up.
Two sources told the newspaper that Miller borrowed about $17 million (about $25 million Australian dollars) from friends in the couple’s social circle, ostensibly to buy a building in midtown Manhattan.
But the building was sold to someone else, and Mr. Miller allegedly told investors he used their money for something else.
He had been the subject of a number of lawsuits, including one over the rental of luxury furniture and another over more than $50,000 (A$75,000) in boat fees, just months before his death.
Mr Miller was sued by an interior designer on April 19 after he “failed and refused to pay” $102,730.27 — about $155,000 Australian — for the company’s luxury rental services, according to the complaint obtained by New York Post.
The couple lived a lavish life, shuttling between New York City and the Hamptons. Photo: Supplied
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, also alleged that he “refused to return” more than $64,000 worth of furniture from his Park Avenue apartment with Candice.
According to the property listing, this home is over 4,300 square feet — with five bedrooms, a private elevator and an 800-square-foot great room alone.
The Millers moved there after selling their luxury Tribeca apartment for about $9 million (about $13.5 million AUD).
On May 15, Lighthouse Marina filed a separate lawsuit against Miller over his alleged failure to pay off balances on his boat, the Miller Time, which has been moored at the Long Island, New York, facility since October 2020.
He inherited his commercial and residential real estate company, REEC, or Real Estate Equity Corporation, from his father, shopping mall mogul Michael Miller, who died in 2016.
After the elder Miller’s death, it was revealed that he had ordered his assistant to forge his son’s signature on loan documents related to a condominium project, according to court records. The lawsuit was settled, according to court documents cited by the The real deal.
The mansion in the popular coastal city was worth $4.5 million. Image: Google Earth
Candice has documented her show Mama & Tata, which she runs with her sister Gina Crespi, as well as social media photos of lavish vacations — including visits to the Plaza Athénée in Paris (where suites start at $3,800 AUD per night) and La Residencia in Mallorca ($3,000 AUD per night) — as well as dinners by personal chefs, appearances at countless high-end charity events and a guest spot at the opening of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop gift shop.
It is not yet known what Candice knew about her family’s finances, according to the New York Post.
The site was unable to reach her for comment.
“A lot of marriages in the Hamptons and Manhattan are transactional,” said a businessman and prominent member of Southampton’s social class, though he explained that Miller’s marriage did not fall into that category because they had known each other since childhood.
“There are a lot of people renting big houses or going into debt to throw parties in an attempt to get into the circles of the really wealthy with the billionaires.”
Mommy blogs and Reddit forums have been abuzz with posts about Mr. Miller’s death since news of his passing broke.
“This is so sad,” one person wrote on Reddit.
Additional reporting by Janet Settember
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished with permission from
