Ever heard the expression (or some variation of it): "Don’t write a check you can’t cash"? That became literal in the sale of one of the world’s most famous skyscrapers: New York City’s Flatiron Building. After a winning bid of $190 million was accepted last week by the court-appointed referee, something unexpected happened two days later, when the winner just didn’t pay the $19 million deposit.
The winning bidder was Jacob Garlick, a relative unknown in real estate circles and apparently a managing partner at Abraham Trust, a venture capital firm. (The firm’s website has no phone numbers or emails to contact, but does have a contact form area, to which Fortune submitted and did not immediately receive a response.) Garlick attempted to get an extension, but the court-appointed referee for the sale, Peter Axelrod, ruled him out as a buyer following his missed down payment. “I suspect he didn’t have the money, or that he realized he overbid and decided not to proceed,” Axelrod told the New York Times.
