In Miami’s so-called Billionaire Bunker, residents do not protest a new neighbor by gathering outside his mansion, waving signs along the island’s only access road or shouting slogans over the fence.
At Indian Creek, even dissent comes dressed in white and carrying a cocktail. The more elegant way to tell Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner that they do not quite belong is simpler: Do not invite them to the country club.
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Indian Creek Country Club in Miami. Just 350 members
(Photo: The Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables)
In February, Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, attended Indian Creek Country Club’s annual dock party as special guests. Around them, members played cricket in white clothing on a lawn sloping toward Biscayne Bay. Behind them stood the Mediterranean-style clubhouse, with its pool, waterfront and Miami skyline views.
It looked like an advertisement for the life Bezos had already bought. But entry into one of its most exclusive institutions still had not been approved.
The Amazon founder was not there merely for the scenery, according to The Wall Street Journal. He was also mingling with the people who could decide whether to admit him, effectively campaigning among the gatekeepers of the ultrawealthy.
Bezos exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with members. Some, including real estate tycoon Richard LeFrak and businessman Eddie Lampert, lined up to meet him. But the votes that matter most belong to longtime families, some of whom have deep roots in South Florida. Six months later, the invitation has still not arrived.
For Bezos, the rebuff is striking even by billionaire standards. He has purchased three properties on Indian Creek Island for a combined roughly $234 million. Yet while he can look out from his home over the golf course, he cannot play there unless invited by a member.
Owning property on the island does not confer membership. Someone who lives elsewhere can be admitted, while the owner of a multimillion-dollar Indian Creek mansion can remain outside. Real estate agents selling homes there warn buyers in advance that, unlike some luxury communities where homeownership automatically includes club membership, Indian Creek does not work that way.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez. They bought three properties on the island but remain outside the club
(Photo: Danny Moloshock\Reuters)
The tiny, guarded island returned to the spotlight after Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for an unfinished estate, setting a new record for Miami’s residential real estate market. His neighbors include DJ David Guetta, supermodel Adriana Lima and Hotels.com founder Bob Diener. Beyoncé and Jay-Z previously owned a home there.
Indian Creek covers roughly 300 acres and contains just 41 residential lots. It can be reached by boat or over a single bridge and is protected by its own police force. At its center sits the country club and its 18-hole golf course, while the mansions form a ring around it, giving homeowners views of both Biscayne Bay and the course. The view, however, does not include membership.
Joining costs nearly $1 million, but money is the easy part
Indian Creek Country Club was founded in 1929, as Miami was beginning its transformation into a playground for America’s wealthy. For decades, the club served South Florida’s established elite: doctors, lawyers, property developers, financiers and longtime families, alongside members such as Julio Iglesias and billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
Beyond the golf course, its Mediterranean-style clubhouse includes a swimming pool overlooking the water and four waterfront tennis courts used for tournaments and private lessons.
Indian Creek Country Club
(Photo: The Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables)
During the season, the pool is maintained at about 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Its surrounding terrace hosts cocktail parties and dinners, with a snack bar, dressing rooms and showers nearby.
Even paradise has rules. Swimming after dark is prohibited. Swimsuits cannot be worn inside the clubhouse. On the tennis courts, men must wear collared shirts tucked into their pants. The club has now become the setting for one of Florida’s most polite battles: old money versus new money, even if what counts as “old” money in Florida might look comparatively new elsewhere.
Florida has become a global magnet for billionaires in recent years, drawn in part by its climate and lack of state personal income tax. Between 2019 and 2023, people moving to Florida brought with them about $137 billion in income, nearly four times the amount attracted by second-place Texas, according to an analysis of Internal Revenue Service data.
The newcomers buy coveted waterfront properties, fill fashionable restaurants and compete for spots at elite private schools. For Indian Creek’s longtime members, however, one lever remains beyond the reach of a newcomer’s checkbook: the membership list.
The club has about 350 members. Initiation fees approach $1 million, while annual dues are about $44,000.
But money appears to be the simplest part of the process. A candidate needs sponsorship from two existing members and recommendation letters from another five. A six-person membership committee screens candidates, after which a 15-member board votes on admission. The board is headed by club president Mike Jackson, the former CEO of AutoNation.
Before that vote comes an extended courtship: candidates are expected to attend events, mingle over cocktails, play golf and, above all, demonstrate that members can spend an afternoon with them without camera crews, security entourages or the threat of a corporate-style takeover.
Global fame can help. At Indian Creek, however, too much fame and too much money can also become liabilities. Members even tried to change the club’s bylaws to raise the voting threshold required to approve a sale, reportedly out of concern that a technology billionaire could one day simply place $1 billion on the table and dismantle their private sanctuary. The proposal failed, but the episode captured the club’s defensive mindset.
David Solomon’s name did not open the gates immediately either. When the Goldman Sachs CEO explored joining, one member reportedly organized a petition opposing his admission. Solomon ultimately prevailed and was accepted. Members say he comes to play golf before returning to his main home in New York.
Others have had an easier path. Jersey Mike’s founder Peter Cancro and football legend Tom Brady were admitted without unusual difficulty. Qatar’s royal family owns an estate on the island but does not belong to the club. A Qatari prince has been seen playing the course only as Brady’s guest.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have also yet to secure membership. The couple bought a roughly 1.3-acre property on the island and transformed a Spanish-style mansion into a modern home.
Mary Anne Shula, widow of legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, sponsored them and even hosted a cocktail reception at her home to introduce the couple to club board members.
Kushner and Trump later invited the board to their housewarming party, but only around half attended. Some were out of town. But on an island where skipping a party can amount to a political statement, the message was difficult to miss. Their path to the green remained long.
Kushner tries ‘sewer diplomacy’
With club membership still elusive, Kushner turned his attention to another issue on the island: sewage.
In recent years, Kushner has been involved behind the scenes in diplomacy involving Israel and the Palestinians, Russia and Ukraine and the Trump administration’s dealings with Iran.
At Indian Creek, he applied some of those negotiating instincts to a more local dispute. For years, aging septic systems serving the island’s estates leaked into the waters of Biscayne Bay. Kushner helped advance a solution that would involve building a new pumping station across from his home while allowing landscaping work on the golf course. The effort has earned him goodwill.
Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, plays golf with club members, and the couple attends some events. People familiar with the club say resistance to them appears to be softening and that they are getting closer to admission. In Indian Creek, White House connections may matter less than being a good neighbor, fixing the drainage and showing up consistently for cocktails.
The interior room
(Photo: The Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables)
Zuckerberg’s arrival has highlighted the same distinction between buying into Indian Creek and being accepted by it. The seller of Zuckerberg’s $170 million property, celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Aaron Rollins, spent four years trying unsuccessfully to join the club.
He eventually listed his unfinished estate for $200 million, saying he concluded that Indian Creek was not the right place for him to raise a family. Four months later, Zuckerberg bought the property for $170 million. For now, he too is not a club member.
The appeal of Indian Creek extends beyond prestige. Eddie Lampert, for example, survived a 2003 kidnapping in Connecticut in which he was held for ransom at a motel. At Indian Creek, he lives behind thick hedges that conceal his home even from wealthy neighbors. He paid $38.4 million for the property, then a Miami-Dade County record.
Carl Icahn arrived much earlier, buying his estate in 1997 for $7.5 million. By 2019, he was telling his employees to pack up and move to Florida.
Now Bezos, Zuckerberg, Qatar’s royal family and the daughter and son-in-law of the U.S. president all find themselves on the wrong side of Indian Creek Country Club’s door. The longtime members are defending perhaps the last piece of the enclave still under their control, without protest signs or bullhorns.
They cannot stop billionaires from buying the waterfront. They can still deny them a tee time. Almost everything on Indian Creek Island carries a price tag. Social acceptance does not. And that may be the one product Jeff Bezos still cannot get delivered to his door.