Gilbert dropped out of the Stott auction at $9m probably because he thought he was getting into a bidding war with a phantom bidders like Palazuelo did with the crazy doctor from Texas and Bill Hults from Chicago [[who lost his $200K deposit) to upbid the Packard auction. The crazy doctor would have probably just kept bidding the price up if anyone countered, even though Palazuelo was the only serious bidder. If Palazuelo really "wanted" the Packard, he could have spent $10m buying the Packard, but Palazuelo didn't want to get into a bidding war even though he may thought it was worth more than the $400K he paid for it. Palazuelo was right.
Same with the Stott. Gilbert could have spent a lot more than $18m getting into a bidding war with the Chinese investors if he really "wanted" the Stott. It doesn't mean the Chinese investors wouldn't forfeit their bid at $18m+ like the crazy doctor did over the Packard did if Gilbert got into a bidding war and they ended up with it. It makes more sense to give the other bidder who's starting a bidding war the difference after the auction is over for two reasons 1) they don't bid it up anymore and 2) there may be several phantom bidders that get cancelled and the winning bid goes to the next serious bidder, which could have been Gilbert at $9m.
Gilbert took at chance stopping at $9m that higher bidders might get cancelled. The Chinese investors had the money. But, then again, Gilbert could have been stuck paying a lot more than $18m if he got into a bidding war with the Chinese investors. The $18m paid is a matter of public record. That's what he paid for it. Call the tax assessors office if you don't believe it because the new property taxes are virtually always assessed at the new purchase price if they are higher than the previous assessment, so the tax assessment office will know how much was paid.
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