Update after death of influencer’s rich husband at age 43

The wealthy husband of an influencer tried to “keep up with the Bezoses” but ended up owing millions before his sudden death at age 43.

The wealthy husband of a popular American influencer who died suddenly at the age of just 43 was allegedly $25 million in debt, it has been claimed.

Real estate mogul Brandon Miller, who is married to well-known mummy blogger Candice Miller, died a few days after being hospitalised on July 3.

While his cause of death has not yet been released, new details surrounding Mr Miller’s life in the lead up to his death have emerged, including claims the property tycoon was about $25 million in debt, a source told the New York Post.

Mr Miller was found unconscious in the garage of his $3 million holiday home ($A4.5m) in Southampton, a coastal town included in the stretch of shoreline prominently known as the Hamptons.

The 43-year-old was found after the local fire department was alerted by an alarm in the garage, the report added.

His wife, co-founder of the lifestyle blog Mama + Tata, and their two young daughters had been staying at a luxe hotel on the Amalfi Coast in Italy as part of a lavish trip to Europe that was chronicled on Candice’s Instagram.

The family quickly flew home and were reportedly able to see him before he died.

Real estate mogul Brandon Miller, married to well-known mummy blogger Candice Miller, died suddenly at the age of 43 on July 3. Picture: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for Hamptons Magazine

The Millers’ shuttled between their lavish homes in the Hamptons and Manhattan where the pair own an $11 million house (about $15.5 million Australian dollars) on Park Avenue, an affluent street of New York City.

But behind closed doors, Mr Miller was allegedly struggling to fund the couple’s lavish lifestyle, the New York Post reported.

“It’s no longer keeping up with the Joneses. It’s like keeping up with the Bezoses, but no one can compete,” one Hamptons socialite told the publication.

“There’s a whole kind of rich now that never existed before. They [the Millers] were trying … They were living way beyond their means, and now the truth has come out.

“There are probably 10 or 20 people in the Hamptons who qualify as billionaires. But you can be sure they’re not the ones sharing their lives on Instagram.”

Candice, whose friend circle included Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Ivanka Trump, as well as her cousin, Something Navy fashion blogger Arielle Charnas, inspired both envy and resentment for showing off what everyone presumed was enormous wealth and a “perfect” family.

It has been claimed the real estate mogul was $25 million in debt at the time of his death. Picture: Billy Farrell /Patrick McMullan

Candice is also a head buyer popular clothing store and runs a vintage-inspired clothing line called Black Iris.

She bragged about her weekly Aida Bicaj $800 ($A1200) facials and her membership at the Tracy Anderson exercise studio, threw $100,000 ($A150,000) parties and spared no expense when she and her husband renewed their vows in 2019.

The theme was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

Sources told the New York Post she even downloaded full-length movies while flying on private jets — a practice which can cost thousands of dollars.

But while money was seemingly flowing out of the Millers’ hands like water, it was slow coming in, allegedly due to questionable business dealings and lawsuits that were piling up.

Two sources told the publication that Mr Miller had borrowed about $17 million (about $A25m) from friends in the couple’s social circle, ostensibly to buy a downtown Manhattan building.

But the building was sold to someone else and Mr Miller was allegedly told investors he had used their money for something else.

He had been hit with lawsuits, including one concerning a luxury furniture rental and another over $50,000 ($A75,000) in boat-related fees, just months before his death.

Mr Miller was sued by an interior designer April 19 after he allegedly “failed and refused to pay” $102,730.27 - about $155,000 Australian dollars - for the company’s luxury rental services, according to the complaint obtained by the New York Post.

The couple led a lavish lifestyle, shuttling between New York City and the Hamptons. Picture: Supplied

He also “refused to return” more than $64,000 ($A95,000) worth of furnishings from his and Candice’s Park Avenue apartment, the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court alleged.

That home, according to a property listing, spanned more than 4300 square feet — with five bedrooms, a private elevator and a great room alone that measured 800 square feet.

The Millers moved there after selling their Tribeca penthouse for about $9 million (about $A13.5m).

Separately, Mr Miller was sued on May 15 by Lighthouse Marina for allegedly failing to pay his balances on his boat, MillerTime, which had been docking at the Long Island, New York, facility since October 2020.

He had inherited his commercial and residential real estate firm, REEC, or Real Estate Equities Corporation, from his father, shopping mall tycoon Michael Miller, who died in 2016.

It came out after the elder Miller’s death that he had allegedly told his assistant to forge his son’s signature on loan documents related to a condo project, according to court records. The lawsuit was settled, according to court documents reported by The Real Deal.

The mansion in the popular coastal town was worth $4.5 million. Picture: Google Earth

Candice documented on Mama & Tata, which she ran with her sister Jenna Crespi, as well as social media photos of lavish vacations — including visits to the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris (where suites start at $A3800 a night) and La Residencia Hotel in Mallorca ($A3000 a night) — as well as dinners from personal chefs, appearances at countless high-society charity events and a guest spot at the opening of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop gift shop.

It’s not known what Candice knew about her family’s finances, the New York Post stated.

The publication was unable to reach her for comment.

“A lot of the marriages in the Hamptons and Manhattan are transactional,” a businessman who’s a notable member of the Southampton social set said, though he made clear that the Millers’ marriage did not fall in that category as they had known each other since childhood.

“There’s a lot of people are renting big houses or going into debt to throw parties in an effort to get into the really rich circles with billionaires.”

Mummy blogs and Reddit forums have been awash in threads about Mr Miller’s death since news of his passing emerged.

“It’s impossibly sad,” wrote someone on Reddit.

Additional reporting by Jeanette Settembre

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission