Billionaire Nelson Peltz, alongside his wife Claudia, is facing a daily $250 fine due to the unauthorized construction of a padel court on their expansive 13-acre beachfront property.
The Palm Beach Code Enforcement Board convened on November 20 and unanimously opted to levy this penalty against the couple, whose combined fortune is estimated at $1.6 billion, as reported by Forbes.
This fine, which was retroactively applied starting October 30, will continue to accumulate until the Peltzes either dismantle the court or secure the necessary approval from the town council.
Documents reveal that as of November 25, the accumulated fines reached $6,750, according to The Palm Beach Post. By Monday, this amount is expected to have grown to $8,250.
Despite the mounting fines, the Peltzes have not publicly addressed the issue, but their substantial wealth suggests they could continue paying indefinitely without much financial strain.
Their Palm Beach residence, known as Mountsorrel, boasts a value of $372 million, as noted by The Real Deal. The estate gained notoriety for hosting the 2022 wedding of their daughter Nicola to Brooklyn Beckham.
In October, board member Chris Larmoyeux said it seemed the Peltzes wanted to avoid a public hearing over the padel court, which would have been required in order to receive a ‘special exception’ to the town’s code.
Such regulations required neighbors to be alerted about the planned construction. The Peltzes may have been trying to avoid this, as a different request to build a padel court by other property owners in the area was struck down in 2024 over locals’ concerns that it would be noisy and disruptive.
Billionaire Nelson Peltz and his wife, Claudia, have been hit with a daily fine after the couple built a padel court on their 13-acre beachfront estate without approval
Palm Beach County estimates the market value of the Peltzes’ estate to be $372.4 million
Padel is a sport with blended elements of squash and tennis, where players attempt to hit a ball over a net into their opponents’ side in an enclosed court, allowing them to bounce the ball off the walls (stock image of a padel court)
Padel is a sport that blends elements of squash and tennis, where players attempt to hit a ball over a net onto their opponents’ side in an enclosed court, allowing the ball to bounce off the walls. Regulation-sized courts are about two-thirds the size of a tennis court.
The Peltzes began working on their padel court in May, according to board chairman Martin Klein, who said the couple was first notified of the unpermitted construction that month.
The estate is the second-largest residential property in Palm Beach, behind only a residence owned by Ken Griffin, another billionaire with a 27-acre estate just south of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
The Peltzes were permitted to build a large concrete slab on their sprawling estate in June 2024, and it was installed and inspected in October that year.
Code enforcement officer John Moriarty said the couple later began building the Padel court on the slab without any review or approval from the town.
The court’s code violation was first brought up by Moriarty at a board meeting in October, where the officer said his department was originally notified of the violation by the planning, zoning and building department in June.
The Peltzes did not go to that meeting or the later one in November when the fine was imposed.
At the October meeting, the board voted to impose a $150 administrative fee and gave the Peltzes until the 30th to come into compliance or face a punitive fine at the November meeting.
The Peltz estate, called Montosorrel, made headlines in 2022 when it became the site of Nicola Peltz’s high-profile marriage to Brooklyn Beckham
Nicola is the daughter of Nelson and Claudia Peltz. The Peltz family is pictured together here
Peltz used to be the chair of Wendy’s, the fast-food chain, and he co-founded investment firm Trian Fund Management and Trian Partners. Forbes estimated his net worth to be $1.6billion
The couple did not get rid of the court, so the fine ended up being imposed at the November meeting.
Moriarty said that a special-exemption request from the couple would be reviewed at a town council meeting on January 14.
In the meantime, it seems the fine will continue to grow. Klein said the Peltzes could ask the Code Enforcement Board for a fine reduction if they end up receiving the council’s approval for their court.
Nelson Peltz purchased the Montosorrel estate in 1987 for $13.5million. A year later, he purchased the property across the street for an additional $3million, which is now the guest house. He completed the 15,400-square-foot mansion on the property in 1991.
Peltz used to be the chair of Wendy’s, the fast-food chain, and he co-founded investment firm Trian Fund Management and Trian Partners.
