Tech tycoon sells Mosman mansion to artificial intelligence pioneer for $12.9m

A $12.9 million sale price has emerged on the Mosman mansion of tech tycoon Simon Clausen, a year after it sold.

Artificial intelligence pioneer Mark Dawson and his medico wife Sharron Flahive, who until recently was chief medical officer of the NSW Waratahs, were revealed as the buyers when the sale completed this week.

The sale of Almora House proved a loss for the founder of Geneva-based founder of tech investment fund Startive Ventures, given he bought the Balmoral slopes residence in 2009 for a bullish $12 million, incurring stamp duty fees at the time of $780,000, and undertook a major renovation in recent years that included a new kitchen and landscaping.

Clausen had already established himself as an up-and-coming tech investor to watch at the time of the purchase. Having founded anti-spyware software manufacturer PC Tools in 2003, he made his debut on the BRW Young Rich five years later following his sale of the company to Symantec, returning Clausen a windfall of about $170 million for his 70 per cent stake.

Selling agent Jonathan De Brennan had previously denied rumours the Dawson-Flahive family bought the property, and the sales result has remained the subject of much conjecture among local agents given the year-long settlement, few double-digit sales locally and false rumours of a $15 million sale result.

Soon after De Brennan sold the Queen Anne Federation house he listed the Dawson-Flahive family’s Hampton’s-style house next door, initially with a scheduled auction but at the last minute buyers were asked to submit their best offer in writing.

Four offers were submitted and updated records this week revealed the $8.7 million buyer as to Jane Foster, wife of Pacific Equity Partners managing director Paul Foster.

The sales have shed a light on the increasingly common request for long settlements in high-end transactions.

“Forget six-week settlements. Now six-month settlements are standard,” said veteran Mosman agent Kingsley Yates, of The Agency North.

“Buyers are often asking for a longer settlement to get their finances in order, and vendors often want the extra time to find something to buy,” said Kingsley.

Long settlements are not limited to Mosman’s prestige market. The Point Piper trophy home Routala owned by Rubicon founder Gordon Fell sold in the last weeks of 2018 for more than $50 million and 18 months later is yet to settle in the name of the buyer, Bloch International’s David Fox.

As Clausen’s Almora House was completed this week his waterfront weekender in Clareville, on the northern beaches, was withdrawn from the market, ending a four-year sales campaign with hopes of topping the suburb’s long-standing $12 million record.