Financial exec sells his Wellington estate for $17.45M

3346 Grand Prix Farms Drive (Inset: Andrew Ziegler)

Andrew Ziegler, a financial honcho who founded the money-management firm Artisan Partners, just sold his sprawling horse farm in Wellington for $17.45 million.

Ziegler's estate covers nearly seven acres of prime turf in Palm Beach County's horse country at 3346 Grand Prix Farms Drive. It has stalls for 35 horses, a “grand prix” field and two arenas.

As with most equestrian estates in Wellington, the horse areas totally eclipse the living quarters in terms of size. The compound has a lounge for the owners, two apartments for horse groomers, each with two bedrooms, and a deluxe three-bedroom apartment for a property manager.

County records show Ziegler paid $16 million for the farm, which is broken into two parcels, in 2006. He even renamed the estate Artisan Farms at the time after his quickly growing company.

Now, less than a year after announcing he was stepping down from his position of chairman at Artisan, he's sold the estate for a $1.45 million return. It was originally listed for $19 million in January with Carol Sollak of Engel & Volkers, according to listing site Redfin.

The buyer is a Delaware company called H5 Stables. It financed this purchase with a $10 million loan from Texas Community Bank. Alejo Pedroza signed the loan documents as manager of the company.

Ziegler co-founded Artisan with his wife Carlene in Milwaukee roughly 22 years ago. The firm has since grown into a financial heavyweight with $97 billion worth of assets under its management as of March 2016, according to its website.

Though he stepped down as chairman in July 2015, Ziegler retained a position as lead director of Artisan's board, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.