Doug Manchester, the peacockish San Diego-based businessman who a few years back failed in his bid to buy The Boston Globe, is the new owner of the Fairholme estate in Newport, RI. Manchester, who likes to be called “Papa Doug,” paid $15 million for the historic property on the Cliff Walk in Newport. According to the Providence Journal, that’s the highest price paid for a Rhode Island residence since Taylor Swift dropped $17.7 million for an oceanfront mansion in Watch Hill in 2013. The Fairholme, an 1875 Tudor Revival with 15 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, was owned by an heir to the Annenberg publishing fortune. Papa Doug is chairman of Manchester Financial Group and had owned the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Correction: Because of a reporting error, an earlier version of this story stated that Doug Manchester purchased Playboy Enterprises in 2013. He did not.
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