Jacob Chetrit’s estate valued at $825.5M: court records

The estate of the late real estate investor Jacob Chetrit is worth approximately $825.5 million, according to documents filed with New York Surrogate’s Court in Manhattan and disclosed yesterday in a State Supreme Court action. The value of the estate was disclosed approximately six months after he died at age 69 on January 2, 2025.

Jacob Chetrit was one of four brothers, the others are Joseph, Meyer and Juda, who are members of the prominent real estate Chetrit family. The brothers have invested together as well as separately. Jacob and Juda led the Chetrit Organization, while Joseph and Meyer led the more active firm, the Chetrit Group.

The figure was disclosed in a document, an Application for Preliminary Letters Testamentary, dated June 20, 2025, filed in a probate proceeding in Surrogate’s Court related to Jacob’s estate. In the filing, Michael Chetrit, Jacob’s son, reports of Jacob’s estate, “At the time of his death, the Decedent held various interests in real estate partnerships totaling approximately $800,000,000.” In addition, Jacob held $500,000 in Webster Bank and $25 million in real estate at the condominium building at 300 East 77th Street, the document says.

The value of Jacob’s estate is important to the real estate industry because several members of the family are defendants in lawsuits by creditors seeking judgments in order to repay alleged debt totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Understanding the holdings of Jacob Chetrit provides a window into the possible value of the assets of other members of the family.

The Application for Preliminary Letters Testamentary was filed in Surrogate’s Court, but was published as an exhibit in a lawsuit Mack Real Estate Group filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Case LINK

Mack Real Estate Group in five other actions alleges Meyer and Joseph owe in excess of $220 million in guarantees. This new action was modeled on one Maverick Real Estate Partners 653855/2025 (NYSS NY Co.) filed on June 26, 2025, which PincusCo reported on June 30.

Maverick, another judgment creditor of Meyer Chetrit, filed the lawsuit six days after Meyer Chetrit filed a confession of judgment, alleging he owed his recently deceased brother Jacob Chetrit $21.7 million. Maverick alleged in its complaint the confession of judgment was an attempt at a fraudulent conveyance, which the estate of Jacob denies. Maverick won a temporary restraining order on June 27.

Mack makes similar allegations to Maverick in its new case, alleging the conveyances were fraudulent.

In the Maverick case, an attorney for Jacob’s estate denied the confession of judgment was fraudulent, saying, “significant factors that the Courts consider regarding so called ‘badges of fraud’ are not present.” And the attorney provided examples of loans Meyer made to Jacob:

“Specifically, Jacob, and his Estate, loaned Meyer $3,499,169.50 regarding the Metropolitan Deals between June 1, 2021 through January 2024, $3,640,000 regarding Collins Park, between December 1, 2022 and June 28, 2024, $10,000,000 regarding the Carter Hotel [250 West 43rd Street] between approximately 2017 and 2018, and $4,561,569.25 regarding Miami River between December 16, 2024 and the present. (Wurtzel Aff. Ex. A). The loans were to fund investment and capital contributions for the real estate projects, as well as to make mortgage payment and mortgage equity pay downs, and pay construction costs, operational costs, and other antecedent debts of the projects.”

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page.