Black billionaire David Steward's son paid $17 million for a horse farm in Florida with 38 stalls

David Steward II did not buy a house. He bought a compound built around horses, one of the largest properties in one of America's most coveted equestrian enclaves.

Steward II, CEO of Lion Forge Entertainment and son of World Wide Technology founder David Steward Sr., paid $17 million for a 7.82-acre double lot at 3351 Grand Prix Farms Drive in Wellington, Florida, according to property records reviewed by The Real Deal. The purchase was made through an LLC and represents one of the largest residential sales recently recorded in Palm Beach County.

The property sits inside Grand Prix Farms, an exclusive equestrian community close to Wellington International showgrounds, the site of the Winter Equestrian Festival and one of the premier show jumping venues in the world. The compound includes 38 horse stalls, staff housing, a manager's residence, groom's quarters, a covered six-horse hot walker, a grass Grand Prix field and a large sand jumping area.

The seller was a company tied to Darin S. Goldstein, who held the property for decades. Goldstein paid $480,000 for it in 1999. The $17 million sale represents a gain of 3,442 percent over that original purchase price. The last asking price was just under $18 million. Ryan Beckett of BitRealty represented the seller. Robert Scott Fitton of Engel and Volkers Wellington worked with the buyer.

Wellington as a destination for serious wealth

Grand Prix Farms sits at the heart of what equestrian real estate brokers describe as a market with a total capitalization exceeding $2.5 billion. The area attracts some of the wealthiest families in the United States. Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates and John Malone have all held property in Wellington, drawn by its proximity to world-class showgrounds and its tight concentration of elite equestrian infrastructure.

The Steward II purchase places America's richest Black family's next generation squarely inside that community. Wellington's equestrian season runs from January through April each year, drawing competitors, buyers and investors from across the globe.

The Steward family and its wealth

David Steward Sr. co-founded World Wide Technology in St. Louis in 1990 and built it into one of the largest privately held technology companies in the United States, with annual revenues approaching $20 billion. Its clients include Verizon, Citi and the federal government. His net worth stands at approximately $12.4 billion, making him the richest Black American according to the Forbes 2026 ranking.

Steward II has built his own professional footprint alongside the family empire. He founded Lion Forge Animation, whose work earned an Academy Award nomination, and expanded it into Lion Forge Entertainment, a broader media and content platform. In 2023, Lion Forge explored raising as much as $50 million from family offices and institutional investors to expand its media library and production capacity.